The Raven's Student
by Ocean's Fury
Summary: AU. During the battle in Wave, Naruto falls off the bridge. With fate and luck aiding him, he survives, being fished out by the Raven of the Uchiha clan, Itachi Uchiha. Now, he is on a journey of trials, loss and challenges to discover who he is, and just how powerful he can be. Rated for violence and language
1. Prolouge: Family ties

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Naruto: Shippuuden. I only own the plot.

* * *

><p>September 1<p>

Everything that could go wrong had done so on this mission for team seven. Both Kakashi and Sasuke were down, while Sakura's attention was solely on the last Uchiha. This left a battered and exhausted Naruto as the last one standing, though that wasn't a good thing in his mind. Mostly that was because of the small army about to slaughter them.

"Damn Ninja... you killed our meal ticket!"

It was true, before he died of his wounds, Zabuza had knocked Gato off the bridge, screaming to his death with a nasty cut near his throat. However, the fact that he was a missing nin from Kiri and they were Konoha meant nothing to the small army, and they were about to make team seven pay the price.

Even more unfortunate, at least for Naruto, was most of Team seven was out of commission for the moment, and he was left on his own.

"We're going to pillage this village and take everything of value!"

The scowl on his face turned into a full glare. Naruto started growling, anger bubbling in his stomach. Most of it wasn't directed at them, his team, or anyone in particular. Mostly, it was how life had never given him a good hand to play, how everything seemed to be designed to make him fail. His team was down, he was exhausted, and of course he was the one who had to stare death in the face.

In his life, Naruto had knocked on death's door only three times. Now, against this small army about to grind his face into the cement, a few months ago against Mizuki, and on his sixth birthday, the only time a mob of villagers ever tried to kill him.

He didn't remember much of it, just anger pain, and a sea of red. He remembered screaming voices, and the sound of chirping of birds, but that was it.

Now though, Naruto felt much of the same way he did then. His vision was turning red, fury boiling in his stomach.

Through his anger, he failed to notice the sudden changes in his body. His nails grew long and hard, points as sharp as a kunai forming from them. His teeth were growing sharper as well, the whisker markings on his cheeks were growing darker.

His eyes were turning a chilling blood-red, the pupil turning into a black slit like a predator. They darted around, seeming to peer right into the souls of the people in front of him.

He snarled before he went onto all fours, a strange red cloak made entirely of chakra beginning to cover him. He was beginning to lose himself, barely even able to think.

Before anyone could speak, he attacked. The band of mercenaries had no idea what was happening, not when Naruto moved like a dart and ripped a man's leg off and not when he used said man's leg to bat the cripple clear off the bridge.

They all thought that Naruto had used a kunai, or maybe even a short sword, but no. All they saw was Naruto's hand covered in blood.

"Holy Shi-" a mercenary backed up only for Naruto to lunge at him and impale his claws through the man's chest.

Under normal circumstances, Naruto would've been horror-struck by his own actions, but at this moment, the only thing Naruto cared about was burning the world to the ground.

And damned if he didn't try with all his might to do so, ripping and biting as he carved through the band of mercenaries like an animal. His hands grew bloodier with every passing cut, bodies and limbs piling around him.

The men began to back away in fear, terror griping them like a vice.

"What the hell is he?" A man whispered before he screamed as Naruto sank his teeth into his neck and jerked backwards violently.

The man next to him though, saw an opening, the first Naruto had given them. He stabbed forward with his spear, ramming it into Naruto's back, right above the boy's right hip. The mercenary smashed a shield down on Naruto's shoulder, knocking him to the ground.

Their confidence returning, they all moved closer to Naruto again. As he got up to his feet one of them smashed a club into the side of his head, a blow that would kill most people.

However, after skidding across the wood and cement bridge until he was about a foot away from the edge, Naruto rolled back up to his feet.

He glared heatedly at them all, growling like a rabid monster.

"Kill the brat before he kills anymore of us!"

They swarmed forward, running towards Naruto with their various weapons. Naruto roared angrily before he charged right back at them, a sound that seemed to awaken his sensei.

Kakashi groaned and opened his sharingan eye, immediately counting forty bodies. His gaze turned to his student, who tore right into the people who were attacking him.

"Naruto..." Kakashi croaked, desperately trying to stand. In the time he took to manage to do that, Naruto had taken out five more people, bringing the count up to forty five.

Sasuke was beginning to awaken as well, groaning and weakly lifting his head in time to watch Naruto kill three people at once. His sharingan active, he also was able to count the corpses in an instant, the total being forty eight.

Naruto ripped his hand out of a man's skull and began to lunge at another before his luck ran dry. A sword, barely even in range of him, blindsided him and slashed across his face, right below his right eye.

"Naruto!" Kakashi's strained voice cried out, watching his student fall to the ground unmoving.

A man grabbed Naruto by the back of his collar and held him up in the air, facing Kakashi. A knife was held against the throat of the unconscious jinchuriki so that he couldn't try anything.

Naruto's face was a bloody mess, along with the rest of his body. His orange and blue jumpsuit was shredded, red stains all over the slash marks.

"Step aside, or the brat dies." the man said, snickering as Kakashi was left with a horrible ultimatum.

Sasuke was still on the ground trying to stand up, glaring at the man as if trying to incinerate him with his eyes. He hated feeling weak and useless, and that was what the last Uchiha was feeling at this time.

Kakashi was still for a moment, before his head fell in shame. He began to turn to the side to let them pass, when it happened in a blink of an eye.

Naruto's eyes snapped open, still a blood-red. He sank his teeth into the man's hand, ripping off his thumb making him drop his knife as well as Naruto.

said boy's feet barely had time to touch the ground before he lunge at the man, impaling his claws through his chest and tackling him backwards.

However, instead of hitting the hard cement, they were met with something far worse. Nothing. The only thing there was empty air.

Kakashi watched in horror, every second passing like a year. Something that happened so fast slowed down to a crawl before his sharingan, and it only made him feel worse about himself.

"Naruto!" the boy faintly heard his sensei shout, his masked face appearing like a smudge at the edge of the bridge where Naruto once was. The jinchuriki felt himself crash into the cold currents of the river and everything went black.

* * *

><p>Itachi was lounging at the edge of a river, a calm look on his face. Kisame had taken to sleeping in, leaving Itachi to stare at the river impassively as a lookout. It was not an unusual thing for him to have to do, given how long they stay out at night. Kisame was not someone who could afford to miss sleep, given how his sword sucked on his chakra and that the man was a tank whenever he was awake, and Itachi hadn't been one to sleep much since the massacre.<p>

His sharingan was active so that he could see properly, and that helped him spot an anomaly on the river. A bright orange smudge floating downstream towards him.

Itachi quickly realized it was a boy, covered in wounds. Dried blood was stained on the right side of his face, which had luckily stayed above the water so he could breathe.

The boy washed up on the shore right in front of Itachi, who stared down at him in surprise. He recognized him as Uzumaki Naruto, a teammate of Sasuke's and one of the jinchuriki that the Akatsuki was after.

'Uzumaki... what happened?' He thought to himself, contemplating his options. If he killed Naruto and threw the boy in the river, it would delay the Akatsuki by at least an extra two years, given how long it took for Bijuu to reform and how they were already being delayed by a lack of funding.

But that would only help them in the end, giving them a free shot at the Kyuubi no kitsune without anyone to stop them from taking it.

But he couldn't exactly just leave the boy there either, Kisame would realize who he was and try to take him back to Pain. And that would be even worse than the first option.

That left one choice, and Itachi didn't hesitate.

* * *

><p>Kisame awakened with a yawn, sitting up and stretching. He opened his eyes, and the first thing he noticed was that Itachi's things were gone. In their place was a single crow with sharingan eyes watching him, almost mockingly.<p>

The shark nin stared at the bird for a moment, before it started flapping its wings and flew away. Kisame watched it go, before he sighed and voiced his thoughts aloud.

"Itachi you son of a bitch."

* * *

><p>Uchiha clan hideout, September 5<p>

Naruto groaned in pain as the sound of rain padded the ceiling above him. He was in a fire-lit room, laying on a twin sized bed. In all honesty he felt that he looked like a mummy, wrapped in bandages all over, though the big ones were wrapped around his stomach and his right shoulder.

Not counting the bandages on his head of course, because he totally forgot to count those.

There were bandages wrapped around his head, most notably around the right side of his face. He brought a hand up and felt the bandage covered his eye, and he began to sulk.

'Great, I'm a Cyclops. The villagers'll get a good laugh out of this one.' he thought glumly, before he blinked and thought 'fuck that! There's no way the next Hokage only has one eye!'

"I would not do that Naruto-kun." A voice spoke up from behind Naruto.

Naruto was shocked, but that quickly turned to alarm as he snapped his gaze to see who spoke. He remembered the bridge and how he fell to what should've been his death, yet somehow he found himself here.

"Who the heck are you?" Naruto growled, trying to sound threatening. In truth he was pretty sure that he couldn't even lift a kunai let alone fight someone right now. The slight strain in his voice didn't go unnoticed either.

"Just the person that saved your life." the voice said again, once more from behind Naruto. He seemed to have an amused tone of voice, like screwing with Naruto had already proven to be the funniest thing he's done in a long time. "Maybe it would be best if I introduced myself.

This time when Naruto turned to look at him, he stayed were he was. He wasn't what Naruto was expecting.

First off, he was young, though still older than Naruto. He looked eighteen or nineteen years old, he had shoulder-length black hair, and wore a pitch black cloak that fell below his knees. He also wore a Konoha forehead protector, but the leaf insignia was slashed out.

This, coupled with the Sharingan eyes that seemed to be staring right into Naruto's soul, made Naruto flinch. His eyes were much harder than Sasuke's, and the fact that he was a missing nin didn't help any.

As far as he knew though, the entire Uchiha clan was wiped out. How does this guy have a sharingan?

"... You're a Uchiha." It was not a question.

"I am. One of the more famed Uchiha of recent memory since I slaughtered my entire clan save for my little brother, who I've heard is your teammate under Hatake Kakashi." The way he spoke so casual almost made Naruto relax.

It probably would've if not for the words that he said.

_"What I have is not a dream, because I will make it a reality. I'm going to restore my clan, and kill a certain someone." _Sasuke's voice repeated the statement he made when they all first met Kakashi in Naruto's head, and Naruto realized that this was who he was talking about.

"You're Itachi..." Naruto said, his eyes growing as wide as saucers. Of course he knew who Itachi was. The man was a legend among Konoha, he even had to watch over Naruto a few times when he was little on orders of the Sandaime.

But that wasn't the main thing, the main thing was that he could snap Naruto in half with both hands tied behind his back and a blindfold over his eyes. The sheer fact that Naruto was still alive and in front of him was a mystery to him.

"Yes I am Naruto." Itachi's face gave nothing away. "I am curious, has Sasuke awakened his sharingan yet?"

"Yeah, he did." Naruto said somberly, the events on the bridge flashing in his mind. "He almost died to activate them though. And now they probably are dead, along with everyone in that village."

"Naruto," Itachi began. "Team seven is alive and well. They left Wave around a day ago, with the builder Tazuna naming the bridge after you. After you fell, Kakashi and Sasuke went on a rampage and slaughtered that army within minutes. If anything, your fall gave them courage, and adding in the fact that you took out almost half of them... I see the potential of greatness in you, something I want to see you achieve."

'What?' Naruto thought, more than shocked. From the sounds of that, Itachi basically just offered to train him, something that just made no sense to him. He wasn't a prodigy, he didn't have any special traits aside from having chakra reserves the size of the Hokage mountain.

"...are you offering to train me?"

"For two months. The Chunin exams are in three months from now, and I doubt that you'll want to be left out of that." Itachi's face remained stoic, making Naruto wonder if he was joking or not.

"Why would you want to train me of all people? I mean, I'm awesome and all, but you... well, you don't seem like you like Konoha."

"This has nothing to do with the leaf village." Itachi stated stoically. "You saved my brother's life. Without your efforts, they would not have had time to recover, and they would have had nothing to enrage them to the point of showing no mercy. In addition, it also helps that you were one of only two innocent members of my clan."

"What?"

"I thought I was very clear." Itachi said dryly. "You're a Uchiha."

"I'm a Uchiha?" Naruto asked in shock. "_I _am a _Uchiha_? There are so many things about that that don't make sense, I should take you to go get your head examined."

Itachi pretended he didn't hear that, and said "Your mother, her name was Kushina Uchiha. She had a little brother named Obito, who died long before I was born. They named you Uzumaki because that is a famed clan that was known for their luck and their stamina, and to help hide your true identity so that you wouldn't inherit their enemies. That a good enough explanation?"

"Dude, have you seen me in actual light? I look nothing like a Uchiha, I have blond hair and blue eyes and on top of that, I suck as a ninja. The Uchiha always are the best, and I failed three times before graduating because of a fluke."

"Your teachers hated you Naruto. You're a walking reminder of the Kyuubi, and they were hoping that if you ever did graduate, that you would die."

"Iruka doesn't hate me." Naruto said seriously. "He's one of the only people who have ever cared about me."

"And I said nothing about one particular teacher. If I did, I believe the first teacher that comes to mind would be Mizuki. But Nevermind that Naruto, just know that I am doing this because Your mother was a member of my clan, and by extension, that means you are as well." He had another reason for doing this, but Naruto didn't need to hear that just yet.

Naruto went silent as he let all this digest. After a minute, he asked "...Will I ever have a sharingan?"

It was a good question, one that Itachi didn't know the answer to. On one hand, it was in his blood so the potential should be there, but Naruto looked so much like his father it was almost unnatural.

"Truthfully? I don't know. Yours will be different from any other that has been seen, if you even can unlock it. Your bloodlines are both dominant, and since you look so much like your father, you may not be able to under the same type of training that I had to do."

"But you think I can, right?" Naruto asked, his voice sounding eagar.

Itachi paused, before he spoke "We will discover over the course of your training under me. Speaking of that, you should rest. Dawn is in a few hours, and we will begin then."

Naruto nodded, and laid back down on the bed he had been sitting on. Itachi turned and walked out of the room, leaving Naruto alone.

The jinchuriki relaxed, before falling asleep.

* * *

><p>Undisclosed location<p>

It was a rather quiet evening, with two old friends talking over sake.

"... what do you say, old friend? You rejoin us, and we'll aid your new village." A man spoke beneath a hooded cloak. The speaker was outside of his protective puppet, something that was unusual for him under most circumstances. However, for civil matters, he found it best if he was not wearing armor to what was supposed to be peaceful.

"Hm... interesting. Tell me Sasori, who was it this time? Kakuzu? There is no way the Akatsuki would be desperate enough to try to bring me back into the fold unless a core member decided to go elsewhere."

"Itachi betrayed us." The first person, now identified as Sasori, said in a rather bland tone. "He was intelligent about it, unlike yourself. Then again, Itachi was never a flashy person like you, eh Orochimaru?"

"Hm... true." Orochimaru agreed. "Itachi never was flashy, always preferring the least violent ways of ending a fight."

"but are you with us?" Sasori pressed. "Will you rejoin the Akatsuki?"

"Hm... why not? It will be a good way for me to gather samples for new... plans of mine." Orochimaru said, a dark smile playing his lips.

"Good. I was sent to recruit or kill you, and that would waste both my time and yours if we were to fight." Sasori said, sipping on the sake in his cup. His body couldn't digest it properly, so he had to take it in as more of a wine to be sipped and savored.

"Yes, we both know how much you hate wasting time." Orochimaru nodded. "Same location as last time?"

"Same location, same jutsu. Be there tomorrow at dusk." Sasori stood up.

"My, the leader isn't afraid of former members is he?" Orochimaru grinned while pouring himself another drink.

Sasori stared at Orochimaru blankly, already knowing his backstabbing nature was making him wary of the sannin. "Only a fool would try that Orochimaru. Only a fool."

'I'll keep that in mind.' Orochimaru thought, downing his sake in one shot. He watched as Sasori stood up, and spoke "Should I show you the door?"

"No."

Sasori disappeared in a poof of smoke, and a new voice spoke up.

"He isn't a talkative man, is he?"

Orochimaru grinned at his new guest, who managed to stay hidden from Sasori with complete ease.

The man was walking towards Orochimaru, not a hint of fear or doubt about him. He had a hood covering most of his face, leaving only his mouth exposed, but Orochimaru knew the man was not his enemy. He wore a navy blue jacket with gold trimmings along the collar, pockets, and a gold line running down both sleeves. He wore gray pants, and had multiple Otoakure forehead protector in the palm of his hand.

"No, but dear Sasori never was one for idle chatter." Orochimaru said with a happy smile. "How goes our... recruitment?"

"It goes well Orochimaru." He plopped down on the couch across Orochimaru. "Thanks to the civil war in Kiri, neither side notices the missing people..."

"We need more than just Ninjas from that backwash nation." Orochimaru said sharply, his eyes narrowing as they stared at the guest. "I want more than just Kiri, I want you to scour the world, pick off a few at a time. Bring them to me, and I'll do the rest. If need be, rob a grave or two for the perfect test subject."

"I'll have my clan do the grave robbing Orochimaru, but I will not sully my own hands in such an act." He waved off, an amused tone in his voice. "It's oh so disrespectful."

Taking that as an affirmation that he'll see to it, Orochimaru visibly relaxed.

"You have my clan's full support Orochimaru, in addition to the help we will be getting from the Akatsuki..." The guest smirked, putting his hands behind his head and kicking his feet up on the table.

"Your clan's full support hm?" Orochimaru raised a brow, but didn't comment further on it. "As I have told you, everything will fall into place. Konoha will be the only obstacle, and even then it would only be the size of an ant before a bijuu. Both of us will have what we seek, and then some." Orochimaru said, pouring a new cup of sake and offering it to his guest.

The guest took it, and gulped it down like a shot. He wiped his lips, before he said "What shall we do for now though? Just bide our time?"

"For now, The Akatsuki will be attempting to size the jinchuriki up while amassing funds. A perfect opportunity..."

The guest's smirk curled into a smile, chuckling to himself. "Indeed."

* * *

><p>Itachi sat in the throne room of the hideout, deep in thought. The sound of the rain pounding down on the roof still drummed softly in his ears, and Naurto was still resting. He had already informed Hiruzen of the current events with Naruto, and had the Hokage's permission to help train Naruto for the next few months.<p>

It wasn't a long time, but Itachi had an idea on how to give Naruto a year's worth of training in a week, so that wasn't the issue.

No, the issue were the whispers he has caught. A new shinobi village was forming, a civil war brewing in Kiri, and even worse, tension between Suna and Konoha have never been worse.

"You know Itachi, I don't know whether to hit you or hug you right now." A voice snapped Itachi out of his thoughts, and back to reality.

"Hello to you as well Jiraiya." Itachi greeted blankly. "You were supposed to be here an hour ago."

"I was busy." Jiraiya said with the most serious face possible.

"The nearest hot spring is thirty miles up the road."

Jiraiya shot Itachi a grin and said "I know."

Itachi relented a sigh and shook his head while Jiraiya lost the humor for a moment. "I know you just saved Naruto's life and all, but did you have to ditch the Akatsuki? We needed our eyes on the inside for a group like them." Jiraiya said, sitting down Indian style while looking up at Itachi.

"What exactly could I have done?" Itachi asked rhetorically.

Rhetoric or not, Jiraiya raised a brow before he spoke in a blunt tone. "Killing Kisame before you left might have helped."

"Split second decision. I didn't want to risk starting a full fight with Kisame if Naruto is going to bleed to death over it." Itachi explained his actions, or lack thereof.

"Still..." Jiraiya stood up, growing bored sitting down. He gave Itachi a disapproving look. "Leaving a crow behind to mock him wasn't a good idea."

"It was my way of making sure he didn't wake up while I was in the area."

"He slept for another hour." Jiraiya deadpanned.

"How do you even know that?"

"I'm a badass motherfucker, that's how!" Jiraiya said rather loudly, while striking a pose.

Itachi sweat-dropped after watching Jiraiya's antics. 'This is the great toad sage of Konoha.' Itachi thought dryly.

"But on a more serious matter..." Jiraiya's face turned serious. "The Akatsuki are not the only problem anymore."

"What?" Itachi's eyes widened before narrowing.

"A new country named Otoakure, allying itself with Ameakure, is forming." Jiraiya explained, though it was not thorough.

"A new country? allied only to Ame? That should hardly be an issue, no matter their location." Itachi almost snorted at this. Yes, he has heard of it, but he was sure they were mere rumors.

"Normally I'd agree with you," The toad sage crossed his arms before continuing. "if not for the fact that when Iwa and Kumo went at separate times to investigate it, none of their shinobi made it out alive." Jiraiya said darkly. "It's worrying me that two of the great five nations, two of the _strongest _of the great five nations and our greatest rivals over the years can't get through the defenses of a newly formed nation."

"Maybe they've just grown lazy." Itachi said, though he didn't believe it. Kumo was just a natural powerhouse, the only nation that might've had as much firepower as Konoha in the form of a perfect jinchuriki. Iwa, they had a grudge to hold on Konoha from the third shinobi war, there was no way they would let Konoha grow out of their reach.

"you and I both know that's a load of bull." Jiraiya said evenly. "Konoha may be called the strongest of the five, but neither of them are pushovers Itachi, which means that Otoakure isn't either. Add in that the Akatsuki are aligned with Ame according to you, and something is brewing. Something big."

"Fair enough." Itachi said simply, not wanting to think of the implications Jiraiya was implying.

Jiraiya glanced back at Naruto's room, and asked "What are you going to do with Naruto? Two months isn't nearly long enough to train someone in more than the basics."

"The shadow clone training method." Itachi shrugged, a twinkle forming in his eye. "You don't even need to be a sensor to pick up on how much chakra he has, he's like a walking chakra factory in that aspect. Turn a month's worth of work into a week's worth."

"Wait, how many clones can he make?" Jiraiya asked, a little flabbergasted. To do that you needed at least a hundred clones, more than double the most that he could make, and he had insane amounts of chakra!

"Against Mizuki, Hokage-sama told me he made over a thousand." Itachi answered, still smirking.

Jiraiya just gapped at Itachi like he was a fish out of water.

"Be that as it may," Itachi was about to change the subject. "I believe you are about to be sent in to gather information on Otoakure."

"Yeah..." Jiraiya frowned and glanced at the door, still listening to the sound of rain. "Why do I always work in the rain?" He mused.

"Dramatic flair." Itachi shrugged once again.

"Meh, not important." Jiraiya turned around and walked towards the exit, before he turned back with a grin. "Make him great Itachi."

Itachi didn't need him to elaborate, knowing what the toad sannin was speaking off. "I intend to."

* * *

><p>Kakashi stood in the Hokage's office, a frown hidden beneath his mask. As of now, he had not seen Sakura or Sasuke since they returned to Konoha, both of them returning home without a single word.<p>

He didn't blame them, he wanted space as well. Teams eight and ten had not been informed yet, mostly because there was no one willing to tell them about it.

And by no one, Kakashi wouldn't let anyone aside from himself do it, and he couldn't even tell it to himself.

Hence, why the third Hokage was forcing him here now.

"Kakashi," Hiruzen's eyes held nothing but sympathy for Kakashi, knowing that the man had given more than any other in the entire village. He lost his father, his teammates, his sensei, and now he was losing his student. It was amazing that Kakashi had yet to break, though now he was closer than ever to doing exactly that.

"Team seven has been temporarily disbanded to cope with the loss of Naruto Kakashi, yet it should be the entire rookie nine class. Why do you refuse to tell them what has happened?"

"I haven't refused, I haven't gotten around to it." Kakashi said lamely, rubbing his neck.

"Well then, should I call both teams in here so that you can tell them? Or should I announce it to the entire village-"

"No." Kakashi's voice was surprisingly heated, his relaxed posture turning as stiff as a board. "Don't announce it to them... not yet..."

Of course, Hiruzen knew why. The celebration the villagers would have would make people think the Yondamaine had returned back from the land of the dead. Such a sight would send Kakashi into a rage that would result in half the village being killed and Kakashi being executed on the spot.

And that wasn't taking the actions of team seven into account. For all Hiruzen knew, he would have to execute the entire team by the day's end if he went and announced Naruto's death and the village partied over it.

"...I'll tell them today Hokage-sama..." Kakashi said, letting out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

Hiruzen stared at Kakashi for a moment, before he nodded to himself and began packing tobacco into his pipe.

Without another word, Kakashi left the Hokage's office to give the bad news to the rest of the rookie nine.

"I hope I'm not making a mistake..." Hiruzen muttered once he was alone, turning around and looking out the window. A piece of paper was crumpled up in his hand under the desk, bearing the signature of Uchiha Itachi.

* * *

><p>It was a tense atmosphere in the small field, six of the rookie nine all present. Teams eight and ten both sat there in silence, thinking hard on what they were all told for a number of reasons.<p>

"I can't believe it..." Choji murmured softly to himself. Aside from Shikamaru, Naruto was the first person that was friendly to him, the first that was actually nice to him.

_"Believe it." _Kiba said in a bitter tone, mocking Naruto's old saying at the same time. Akamaru whined above his head, and Kiba absently scratched him behind the ear.

"It's... not right." Shikamaru said aloud, looking up at the cloudless sky. "He was Naruto... sure he was the deadlast... but he was Naruto..."

Hinata was silent, letting tears roll down her cheeks.

"He's not dead." Ino muttered quietly, before she started growling. "Sasuke-kun wouldn't let him die... or Forehead or his sensei... no way is he dead. This is probably a stupid prank of his."

"If it was a prank, why did it look like Kakashi-sensei had been crying?" Kiba bit back sharply, glancing back at his former classmate. "And why have Sasuke and Sakura been at home and refusing to come out since they've gotten back? Face it Ino, Naruto is dead and this isn't a fucking prank."

The tongue lashing from the Inzuka clan heir did nothing to stop Ino from glaring at Kiba heatedly. "He can't be dead. He's our classmate, and some of us aren't even teenagers yet! He can't be dead yet!"

"Well tell that to his corpse Ino." Kiba snapped. Akamaru whined and looked up at Kiba, trying to tell him to stop.

"He isn't dead!" Ino insisted. "Naruto might be an idiotic, brash, annoying asshole, but he isn't stupid enough to go get himself killed! Even if he was, he has Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke with him on missions doing the heavy lifting!"

"Actually, Naruto killed more people than both Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei, according to what our sensei's told us. Remember?" Shikamaru said absently, his voice hollow. His eyes briefly left the sky and glanced at Kiba. "And Naruto did it on his own, protecting both of them along with that village."

"So he died a hero." Kiba grunted, looking away. "Doesn't change the fact that he is dead."

Akamaru barked in agreement, though it sounded more mellow than usual from the hyper puppy. Was he mourning too?

"I have to agree with Kiba-san." Shino said, his tone still as blank as ever. "Logic dictates that Naruto died in the fall."

"...I have to agree with my teammates." Hinata said in a cold voice. "He's dead, and that won't be changing anytime soon."

Ino glanced back at her teammates, expecting them to come to her side of the argument. Instead, neither of them even looked remotely interested in the conversation. Choji because he was crying into his hands, and Shikamaru because he was staring up at the stars once again.

Shikamaru would never admit it aloud, but he was praying to anyone that was listening for guidance. Praying for a sign that everything was going to be alright, that his friend wasn't actually dead.

He never got it.

"You guys are all wrong." Ino said, not caring how her voice cracked. "...completely wrong."

Kiba relented a sigh. 'I wish we were Ino. I wish we were.' He looked away, his left hand rubbing Akamaru's head.

Team eight eventually took their leave, albeit at separate times. Team ten however, remained where they were, as if in a daze.

Ino sniffed quietly, her voice sounding horse. "Do you... do you guys think he's dead?"

Choji didn't answer, he didn't even register the question. But the Nara boy next to him however, and he stared at his blond teammate with eyes like shattered glass. He didn't speak, but just stood up and began to walk away.

That was when the tears began to fall from Ino's eyes.

Saratobi Asuma looked down at his team, sighing. In a sad voice, he spoke into the wind.

"Get used to the feeling kids... You'll need to."

* * *

><p>Alright prologue is complete. I hope I did better on it than I did on the first try. I'll only say this once, the two stories will have differences right from the start, so expect them.<p>

Don't forget to leave a review down below, constructive criticism welcomed (Flames are ignored, and insults will be met with insults of my own.)

This is Ocean's Fury, signing off.


	2. Awakening

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Naruto: Shippuuden. I only own the plot.

* * *

><p>November 1; two months later<p>

Naruto was tired and frustrated. Over the last two months with Itachi, he had tried and failed to unlock his eyes. He had mixed feelings about that if he was going to be honest. He would never in a million years admit it out loud, but when Sasuke awakened his sharingan, Naruto thought it was just completely badass. Add in the skill it gave him, and Naruto was almost jealous.

Almost. Mostly because more times than wanting it, he was scared of having it. If he ever did unlock them, what would the village say? What would they _do? _They hated him with their every breath, if they saw that he had the eyes of legends, would that push them to their breaking point? Would they actually try to kill him for it?

Even worse, how would the rest of the gennin of his class and the three he had yet to meet from the year before say? That he didn't deserve them? How would Sasuke react? They never did not see eye to eye, but what if Sasuke thought that Naruto was trying to pull a sick joke on him? The boy would try to kill him in sheer rage.

And Naruto could understand that. Hell, Naruto would expect that. It's what he would do if their roles were reversed.

Regardless, he had yet to succeed. He was glad about that, he didn't know if he even wanted it, especially given the damage he caused without it. When he thought back to the bridge, he only got snippets of what happened. But the things he did see was so disgusting that they nearly made him vomit. He slaughtered fifty people, brutally too. Itachi had told him that the first kills are always the hardest.

Well, given that Itachi was the guy that killed his whole family one-by-one in a singular fashion, Naruto took his word for it.

However, even with all this going on, trying to unlock them was not all Naruto had done, far from it. Thanks to his shadow clones making training for a month the equivalent of almost two years, he grew by leaps and bounds. Itachi then taught him multiple styles of taijutsu, as well as helping Naruto discover his affinity with Wind, while working in a fire affinity as well. In mere weeks, he learned a lot of powerful wind and fire ninjutsu.

Naruto also learned how to mold chakra into shapes to a degree, but has yet to do anything with it nor focus on it. In this time, his muscles had grown more defined as well, not enough to bulge or make him broad-chested, but definitely making him appear slightly bigger than the mal-nourished boy who graduated three months ago. He had grown faster as well, a combination result of wearing weights and running miles upon miles, learning how to shushin, and when Itachi's frustration reached its peak now and then and he ran after Naruto with a Katana.

Naruto's general appearance had taken a change, thanks in part to a new wardrobe at the hideout. He wore a sleeveless orange windbreaker with a long sleeve blue shirt underneath. He also wore navy blue pants, hiding fifty pound weights on each weight above his ankles. He had the average ninja sandals on his feet to complete his new outfit.

That was one of the few things Itachi was never able to break him off, his distinct need to wear Orange. He tried everything to stop him from wearing it, going as far as trying to burn it straight off his body with a fireball. Safe to say that it didn't work.

His hair had only grown slightly thankfully, but the scar running across his right eye was still a prominent feature. It ran right under his eye horizontal, from his ear to the top of his nose, a tenth of an inch from his eye. Naruto had jokingly taken to calling it his fourth whisker.

Now, they were on their journey to send Naruto back to Konoha, where the two would part ways and Naruto would hope prepare for the Chunin exams in six weeks time.

Currently they weren't to far away from Konoha, only twenty miles from the village hidden in the leaves. They were at an Inn in a small suburb of the village, where people seemed to realize that they knew him, but didn't recognize him. They were eating a peaceful dinner of Ramen Noodles and sushi, when the door at the front of the restaurant opened.

Normally, such small things wouldn't catch Naruto's eye, but when he could feel the power coming off the man like a beacon, he'll notice it pretty easily.

The new arrival wore a simple outfit, consisting of a yellow over shirt with a long dark green shirt underneath it. He had gray pants as well as the standard ninja sandals, and a weird purple rope around his waist. He also had long black hair with gray skin and yellow snake-like eyes.

The snake eyed man sat down at a table across the restaurant from them, though he was smirking and staring right at Itachi as if he knew exactly who he was.

Itachi glanced back at the man, before his eyes went back to his food. However, Naruto could tell when something was up. "Naruto, I want you to get out of here. Now." he whispered to the Kyuubi no Kitsune's jinchuriki.

"Why?" Naruto whispered back, his voice slightly louder than Itachi's, but still not loud enough to draw attention to them. He knew instantly the reason had to do with the man with the snake eyes.

"Trust me Naruto, that man is not someone you want to trifle with. I can handle him myself if I must, but you would be killed in moments in a fight with him." Itachi said, his eyes darting subtly between Naruto and at the snake eyed man.

Naruto bit back a retort and asked a simple question. "Who is he then?"

"His name is Orochimaru, and he is considered by many to be the strongest of the Sannin. He has a desperate obsession with defeating a Uchiha and stealing their body to take their eyes." The nuke nin answered.

Naruto frowned, before he said a little loudly "He almost sounds like a pedo when you word it like that."

The snake sannin glanced over at Naruto, and a sinister smile appeared on his face before he sat at the table across from them. He definitely heard that last comment.

Itachi stood abruptly, and said "Come on Naruto, we're leaving."

"Alright." Naruto said, his eyes meeting Orochimaru's. The boy saw the curiosity in the snake Sannin's eyes, as if knowing exactly who Naruto was.

Creepy enough, given that this was the first time Naruto had seen the man before.

"I still think I could take him." Naruto muttered to himself, while Itachi put a hundred ryu on the table as payment. Naruto walked behind Itachi with his hands behind his head in a relaxed manner until they were outside, not understanding the danger they were in. Once the two were out of the inn, however, they both saw Orochimaru leave it as well out of the corner of their eyes.

Naruto's hands fell down to his side, ready to fight. He might have been considered dense by most people, but even he could tell something was about to go down between them.

Itachi stopped in the middle of the road, and with his back turned, he spoke. "Why are you following us, snake?"

Orochimaru stopped as well, about ten yards away. "I have no interest in you, Itachi." He said, his voice as smooth as silk. "I simply wanted to know if that is Minato's son? Because the boy certainly looks like Jiraya's former student."

Naruto's face scrunched up in confusion. He could've sworn that he had heard the name Minato before, but he couldn't recall who it was. However, his eyes widened as he heard Itachi say "He is. If that is all, leave us be."

"Wait, this guy knew my dad?" Naruto asked Itachi, looking back at Orochimaru curiously.

Orochimaru ignored Naruto and spoke directly to Itachi, a twinkle in his eyes and a dangerous smirk playing his face. "Ah, but Minato married that Uchiha girl, didn't he? Kushina, I believe was her name."

Itachi had never truly looked threatening in the time that Naruto had spent with him, but what he saw could only be defined as such when Itachi stared at the Nin before them. His sharingan activated without a second's hesitation, his hand resting on the hilt of his katana.

"If you try anything-"

Whatever Itachi was about to say was interrupted when he was clobbered in the back of the head, sending him forward. However, the blow did not knock the man out, only enraging the Uchiha.

Itachi rolled to his feet to face his attacker, surprised to see Kisame grinning at him.

"Ah, I see you've met my associate. Surprised to see such a familiar face Itachi?" Orochimaru quipped, crossing his arms. "Don't worry, I'm pretty sure he doesn't bite. But I could be wrong."

Kisame said nothing, though a toothy grin adorned his face while he stared down Itachi.

"Naruto, get out of here." Itachi growled through clenched teeth, the blond boy staring with wide eyes at the superpowers before him all about to fight. Instead of being afraid, Naruto grinned and fell in his own stance, saying "Not a chance Itachi-sensei. If I'm going to be the next Hokage, I need to see how far I have to grow!"

"Spoken like a true Ninja." Orochimaru said mockingly, grinning like a mad man.

Then all hell broke loose.

Itachi was the first to move, drawing his katana as he moved in a blur. He swung his weapon at Kisame's neck, hoping to catch the shark nin off guard and kill him quickly.

Unfortunately, it didn't work as Kisame parried the attack with Samehada. The two swords clashed, though Itachi was forced to pull back due to the abnormal size difference between the two weapons.

Orochimaru smirked as he pointed his hand at Itachi, who was out of his guard at the moment. A snake flew out from under his sleeve and lunge straight for Itachi's throat who could only watch as it flew closer and closer to him.

However, Naruto grabbed the snake by the end of its tail with , and in a fluid spin swung it around like a mace right back at Orochimaru.

Orochimaru ducked under it, watching the serpent sail over his head and smash into a jagged rock nearby. Before Itachi could even think of intervening between Naruto and Orochimaru, Kisame swung Samehada down like a hammer at him, smashing a crater into the ground.

A bloodthirsty grin adorned itself on Kisame's face. "You and me Itachi, I got a score to settle with you!"

Itachi's eyes widened as Kisame's body smashed into him, tackling him away from Naruto and Orochimaru.

While Itachi's struggle began against Kisame, Naruto swung a kick up at Orochimaru's face which was easily blocked by the more experienced shinobi he was up against.

Orochimaru shoved Naruto's leg back, expecting the boy to be as slow as any dead last of the academy was going to be, when instead Naruto found his footing rather easily and sent his other leg up to try and knee Orochimaru in the chin.

Orochimaru almost blinked in surprise, but restrained himself so that he could actually follow the movements. The sannin caught Naruto's knee, and shoved the boy backwards again.

Naruto growled, thinking 'Alright, I can already tell this guy is good.' The moment he caught his footing though, he shot at Orochimaru like lightning once more without a hint of doubt about him.

'He has the speed of his father at that age, but not the tactical prowess.' Orochimaru thought, blocking a punch from Naruto. Minato was patient, he preferred to fight his battles defensively, only attacking when he saw an opening. Given that he could punch about ten times in under a second, that strategy tended to work for him.

Naruto however, was not patient. Far from it in fact, as he never let Orochimaru get a single attack off, constantly trying to pound his opponent into the dirt.

In short, where Minato was more of a finesse fighter, Naruto was a wrecking ball.

Orochimaru caught Naruto's outstretched fist by the wrist, and delivered a quick knee to the ribs to the jinchuriki.

Naruto doubled over, but he blocked Orochimaru's follow up of a kick to the head with his arms. He aimed a kick straight at Orochimaru's ankle, trying to either break it or sweep the man's legs out.

Instead, he received a kick to the nose from the sannin, knocking him clear off the road and into the trees.

'Damn it...' Naruto thought with a groan before he flipped back up to his feet and back into his stance. Orochimaru had yet to move yet, simply smirking down at Naruto from the road.

The villagers were all watching with rising interest, having never seen a shinobi battle this close before.

"Is that all you have Naruto-kun? I was beginning to get my hopes up too..." Orochimaru shook his head in a mocking fashion.

Instead of a reply, Naruto growled and did a hand seal to perform his favorite jutsu.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Instantly four Naruto clones popped to life, all side by side with the original.

Orochimaru prepared for another attempt at Naruto trying to pummel him in taijutsu, when they all began weaving through hands seals.

"Fūton: Daitoppa!" They spoke simultaneously, the jutsu altering the direction of the slight breeze and giving it the momentum of a tornado. Orochimaru stood his ground, the trees behind him shattering into splinters.

"You have the stamina of a herd of oxen, Naruto-kun." Orochimaru's voice was terrifyingly happy, as if he enjoyed the attempts Naruto was making at harming him. "But you and I both know, you stand no chance at beating someone on my level."

"Jokes on you, I've never heard of you!" Naruto's uttered from behind Orochimaru, his fist cocked back to strike the back of the snake sannin's head.

Orochimaru didn't even turn around, just moved his head over to the side and let Naruto's fist hit empty air. He jabbed backwards with his elbow, hitting Naruto in the sternum.

The sheer force stopped Naruto in his tracks, letting blood and saliva flying out of his mouth. He fell to his knees, desperately trying to catch his breath.

And if not for his clones, he would've probably ended up dead.

While his attention was on the real Naruto, the clones all surged forward, just as fast as original. The Middle clone reached Orochimaru first, his fist rocketing at Orochimaru's chin.

The sannin caught the clone's outstretched fist, a blank look on his face. He didn't expect the two fists that collided with his face a moment later though, stunning him.

The forth clone stepped off the shoulder of the first, and used both his feet to kick Orochimaru in the nose with all his might. The impact launched Orochimaru backwards, catapulting him through the thick trees in the forest and back onto the forest.

The real Naruto was still gasping for breath when his clones helped him up, but that didn't stop the heated glare he shot in the direction Orochimaru went.

"Did you get him mister?" A childish voice said behind one of the clones said, tugging on the back of his shirt.

The Naruto clone looked down in alarm, surprised that a small child of about three years old standing idly behind him, unaware of the danger he inadvertently put himself in.

"Kid what are you doing!" Naruto all but shouted down, accidentally scaring the child. "Wait, don't cry-"

"Oh, you are just full of surprises today Naruto-kun."

They looked at Orochimaru, and their eyes widened in shock. Aside from scuffing up his clothes, the sannin was undamaged.

"Get him out of here. Now." Naruto told the clone, who nodded wordlessly and picked him up. "Hold on tight." The clone ordered the kid, running off to the village with the kid en tow.

"Aw, you didn't want an audience to see your death... for a second time?" Orochimaru asked in a sickly sweet voice. "A shame..."

Naruto clenched his teeth and tightened his fist, but didn't verbally say anything. Any quips he had to shoot back were lost in the recesses of his mind, his focus more on stopping himself from shaking in his sandals.

'This is gonna suck.' He summed up in his head nicely. Still, without a hint of hesitation he and his clones began weaving hand seals.

"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!"

As the attack moved closer, Orochimaru thought to himself 'So he can use two styles as well, hm? Interesting... very interesting.' The attack scorched the earth where Orochimaru was standing, kicking up smoke and dust.

"Did we get him?" A clone asked, staring at the smoke covered area.

He got his answer when the ground cracked beneath his feet, and a hand shot up out of the ground. Orochimaru held his hand against the clone's throat, snapping its neck and dispelling it with a single twitch in his wrist. The real Naruto looked over in surprise.

''That could have easily been me.' he thought, the three remaining clones backed up a step in shock.

However, Orochimaru wasn't playing around with them. He backhanded one clone right across the cheek, while his other hand aimed itself at another clone and sent a snake flying after him.

A foot long sword came out of the serpent's jaws, and impaled itself through the clone's throat.

The third clone didn't even let Orochimaru get himself set to defend when he lunged forward with his fist cocked back. It proved futile though, as Orochimaru stepped to the side, and kicked the clone in the chest dispelling it.

'Where's the real one?' Orochimaru thought, turning around while looking for him. He found Naruto standing a dozen yards away, smirking as he went through hand seals.

"Got you." He murmured, before he launched his attack. "Katon: Karyū Endan!"

Orochimaru's eyes went wide as a serpent made of flame coiled around Naruto. It snarled at Orochimaru, giving out an ear splitting roar before it launched at the snake sannin.

Right as Naruto expected to roast him alive, he felt something clobber him in the back of the head, sending him down the road, much closer to the town than before.

The clone that ran off earlier was still running around the town, trying to find the kid's parents.

Naruto glanced at the clone before he looked at where he once stood, not surprised to see Orochimaru was standing there, sick smirk still adorning his unnaturally pale face.

"This is just depressing Naruto-kun... aside from looks, you didn't inherit anything from your father." Orochimaru taunted at him.

"Shut up." Naruto spat venomously, his eyes flashing red for a moment. "I don't care if you knew my dad, because he was a good person. No way was he friends with you!"

"True, we weren't friends, but still I think we respected each other." Orochimaru acknowledged with a smirk. He was really going to enjoy this part. "We did compete for the spot of fourth Hokage. A contest in which he was victorious."

Naruto felt his blood run cold. It clicked together in his mind in but a moment, what Orochimaru just said. The fourth Hokage's name was Namikaze Minato. The fourth Hokage was his father.

**"Damn fool, you're going to get us killed! Stop standing around and fight!" **a voice roared in Naruto's head.

'Who the hell are you and why are you in my head?' Naruto thought back, momentarily forgetting about the fight, which proved costly.

Orochimaru moved like a man possessed, his fist about to collide with Naruto's face.

The jinchuriki threw his arms up to block the punch, though a snapping sound still rang clear in Naruto's ear and agony burst through his left arm. He was blasted backwards, tearing through the ground.

Orochimaru walked right up to Naruto's downed form, and grabbed his collar.

"Alright, I think I'm done playing with you... what's this?"

Instead of a face like he was expecting, he was looking down at a wooden dummy with a scratched on smiley face. In addition to that, a strange hissing noise was hitting Orochimaru's ears.

A second later, it dawned on Orochimaru what Naruto was doing.

"you clever little brat..."

**BOOOOOM!**

The explosion seemed to rock the world, the villagers all having to put an arm in front of their eyes. Thick black smoke blanketed the area, though Naruto appeared sitting atop a tree looking down at the remnants of the explosion.

"Get up from that you bastard!" Naruto exclaimed, a wide grin on his face and an arm in the air. His left arm hung limply at his side, but his right arm was raised in celebration.

From behind Naruto however, he heard a chilling laugh. "I'll admit Naruto, you are full of surprises."

There was no way, no possible way...

Naruto turned around, and a fist collided with his jaw with the force of a jackhammer. Naruto shot down through the thinning blanket of smoke and smashed into the ground, his face buried in the ground

"See Naruto? No matter how strong Itachi has made you over the last two months, I am a man with no equal, especially from a dead last loser like you." Orochimaru taunted, leaping down to the ground. He walked leisurely to Naruto's down form, taking time to savor the moment.

He might not have ever got to do it to Minato for taking what was rightfully his, but using his son as a punching bag was proving to be a great stress reliever.

Naruto was barely conscious. That much the boy knew, but he felt a familiar sensation of rage building in his chest, his vision turning red.

Orochimaru was about to grab the back of Naruto's collar, when his body just erupted with red chakra. It cloaked him like a suit of armor, a lone tail forming and knocking Orochimaru away

Naruto pushed himself up onto all fours, a menacing growl coming from his throat. He turned his head to glare at Orochimaru, who found himself staring into the eyes of a monster.

The jinchuriki bared his teeth, which had turned into fangs. His whisker marks had grown bigger, while the scar on his face looked more defined. His nails hardened into claws, stabbing through the dirt.

Blood dripped from Naruto's mouth, and when the first drop of the red liquid hit the ground, he charged, roaring in absolute fury.

* * *

><p>Itachi managed to throw Kisame off of him after a few minutes of the shark nin dragging him through the forest. The two former partners now stood only ten feet away from each other, both in their respective kenjutsu stances.<p>

"Fucking traitor..." Kisame growled, a twisted smile on his face. "I'm gonna enjoy feeding your chakra to Samehada."

"Good luck with that." Itachi said, an expressionless look on his face. "You'll need it."

Kisame didn't speak, narrowing his eyes. After a moment, his face broke out in a toothy grin while he did hand seals and shouted "Suiton: Suikōdan no Jutsu."

Itachi did his own signs and did the same move, copying his opponent's movements with his sharingan.

Glowing blue sharks launched through the air, smashing into each other, steam filling the air.

Through the white smoke, Itachi charged forward, katana still in his hand.

Kisame's grip on Samehada shifted, pulling it in an upwards stroke to parry Itachi's attack.

Their swords clashed, pressed hard against each other in a stalemate. The power struggle didn't last though, Itachi went for a kill shot straight out of the gate. Pulling out a kunai with his free hand, he tried to slash out Kisame's throat before the shark nin could react.

And while he did hit Kisame, it wasn't the kill shot he intended it to be. Instead, all he got was a scratch on the shark nin's face.

"Gah! You little bastard." Kisame growled, kicking Itachi in the chest and knocking him away. While it was true, in most aspects Itachi was just a better shinobi than him, Kisame was just a brute. He was much stronger than Itachi, and fighting him head to head was downright suicide.

'I can't overpower him.' Itachi conceded in his head, ducking under a quick strike from the monster of the mist. 'But I can certainly outsmart him.' Weaving through hand seals, he spoke under his breath "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu."

A giant ball of flame made its way towards Kisame, singeing the ground beneath it.

"Suiton: Suidan no Jutsu." Kisame countered the fireball with an attack of his own, blasting a jet of water and dousing the flames easily.

Itachi's sharingan eyes followed Kisame's every movement, the shark nin hefting his sword once more and charge forward to engage Itachi.

Kisame swung for Itachi's neck, an attack that the Uchiha ducked under and proceeded to try and sweep Kisame's legs out.

Being much more nimble than most people his size, Kisame was easily able to jump over the low kick. The monster of the mist then tried bringing Samehada down with one hand like it was a hammer, sending his sword rocketing downward.

Itachi rolled back, letting the sword smash into the ground where he was. "You know Kisame, you're not bright." he said, a light smile gracing his features. "Picking a fight with me, that's a mistake no one has ever lived to repeat. I let you live when I left because I simply deemed you not worth the effort to kill."

"Oh yeah?" Kisame bristled, starting to see red. A personal flaw of his was his hatred for traitors, which in his eyes Itachi fit the bill perfectly. It made his judgement grow cloudy and quick to anger. "Then why don't I just show you why everyone fears the tailless tailed beast!"

Itachi's smirk broadened, much to Kisame's quiet confusion. Never the less, Kisame didn't slow down in the slightest.

When he reached Itachi however, the Uchiha leapt up into the trees, a strange hissing sound coming from beneath Kisame.

"The hell is that sound?" Kisame thought aloud, before looking to the ground and resisting the urge to face palm.

"Shit." Kisame swore, putting his arms over his face and expecting to be blasted to kingdom come. However, to further his confusion, the explosion never happened.

"A dud?" He frowned as he looked down at the paper bomb, not even noticing Itachi about to shatter his collarbone with a well placed kick.

Kisame fell to the ground, biting back a scream. He got up on one knee, where Itachi roundhouse kicked him in the face, sending him skidding across the ground.

"Are you tailless because you lost your dick or because you never had one to begin with." Itachi quipped, the smile never leaving his face. He hadn't got many chances to mouth off in a fight before, but damn was it fun.

Kisame used Samehada to help pull himself up to his feet, a snarl on his face. "Shut up!" He roared. He brought Samehada's up to his good shoulder and charged Itachi, slashing at the smaller man's head.

'Too easy.' Itachi smirked, ducking under it and letting it shatter the tree behind him. All he had to do was throw an insult out there to tick Kisame off, it was hilarious.

"Not bad, if you were aiming for the tree." Itachi said bluntly, this time not able to stop himself from chuckling as Kisame charged straight at him, Samehada raised above the shark nin's head.

Kisame swung, sailing the attack right over Itachi's head. To the Uchiha, this attack seemed to be sloppy and left plenty of defensive holes for Itachi to exploit.

The Uchiha tried to attack Kisame's exposed back however, the shark nin was a sheer brute. The blow did connect, slashing right across his back, but it proved ineffective, and got Itachi a foot into his face. Rolling back from the momentum of his former partner's kick, the Uchiha asked "Why would you and Orochimaru work together to take me down? I thought Orochimaru left the organization."

Kisame smiled darkly, showing his fangs. "It's more of a 'You help us, We'll help you' kind of deal. As for you, you're not the target Itachi, You're just the distraction. We came for the boy." The shark nin laughed to himself, and continued to speak. "To think, that boy has so much power inside of him, and he'll never tap into it."

For a moment, Itachi was worried that they knew Naruto was part Uchiha, but upon Kisame finishing what he was saying, he worries subsided.

"Now that I think about it, I should have known that boy was a jinchuriki before I even got here. I'm not even a sensor, and I could tell his chakra reserves are massive enough for me to feel a mile away!"

"Why go after the nine tails? You can't take it from him before you take the other eight." Itachi asked, not expecting an answer.

"Whatever gave you that impression Itachi? We were going after him last because he was surrounded by top tier ninjas from the best village in the world. Now, he's only got you watching over him. This is the best shot we have at getting him." Kisame explained.

Itachi's demeanor relax a degree, but he was still ready for battle. "Are you done talking?" he asked coolly.

"Yeah, are you done breathing?" Kisame answered Itachi with another question.

"No," Itachi said, his Mangekyo Sharingan activating. "But are you?"

Kisame knew better, yet he did it anyway. He looked directly into Itachi's eyes, and immediately regretted it.

Before he knew what hit him, the world turned into a weird black and gray, the sky turning a blood-red. He tried to move forward, only to find that he was two dimensional, and as flappable as paper.

Itachi had yet to move from his spot, but he had turned black and white, with the only hint of color in the entire world seemed to be his mangekyou eyes.

"I can make seconds into days, imagine what I can do to you in one minute Kisame." Itachi whispered, though his voice seemed to come out as a shout right inside Kisame's head. A circle of black flame formed around Kisame, inching closer to the shark nin.

"You think fire scares me Itachi!" Kisame screamed at him, though his voice was mute. He could not hear his own voice, though Itachi could hear it.

"No, but at the end, it will terrify you." Itachi's voice was a whisper in the wind, yet still the loud echoing voice as before.

A kunai impaled itself through Kisame's back, before a shuriken flew into his chest and a Katana through his hip. Blades of all shapes and sizes tore their way into Kisame, burrowing into his flesh.

Blood dripped from the corners of Kisame's mouth, but he refused to scream.

The black flames began to lick his ankles, before actually beginning to burn Kisame straight to ash. This time, Kisame literally inwardly screamed, keeping his mouth shut as the scream of pain seemed to die in his throat.

"No one is unbreakable Kisame... though you're already broken." The various blades impaled throughout Kisame's entire body had lit themselves on fire, forcing the shark nin finally let out scream in terror and agony.

In the real world, Kisame's body slumped to the ground, though Itachi was unsure if he was still alive or not. He would've cared, finished him off and all that jazz, if not for a bright explosion of chakra coming from the way he came, a ray of bluish white appearing like a beacon going through the clouds.

"Naruto..."

* * *

><p>Thirty minutes ago<p>

Naruto lunged for Orochimaru's throat like an animal, and that was his own opinion. He felt stronger, faster, and overall more powerful than he had in the last two months, though at the same time he never felt hatred like this since the bridge.

Orochimaru swatted Naruto's hand away, which actually burned his arm. The heat coming off of Naruto was like straight out of a furnace.

The snake sannin narrowed his eyes, before he mentally shrugged and aimed a kick for the jinchuriki's bruised jaw.

Naruto felt his more animalistic side kick into gear and instead of blocking it, Naruto ate the kick, figuratively and very literally. He caught the kick within inches of his face and sank his teeth straight into Orochimaru's leg, his claws impaling themselves on either side of Orochimaru's leg.

Orochimaru was so surprised that he lost his footing, which led to Naruto spinning around and swinging Orochimaru around like he was a rag doll.

He let Orochimaru's leg go, but not before he managed to tear out a piece of him with his teeth. The Sannin flew straight through the trees and smashed into a large rock.

Orochimaru groaned before standing up, ignoring the annoying pain shooting up his leg. 'Pesky little brat.' He thought with a disturbing smirk, looking up to stare down the child that was his opponent.

Instead, he was greeted with a fist colliding with his chin. The attack didn't really hurt, just catching the sannin off guard, like a lot of what Naruto has been able to do.

Orochimaru batted Naruto upwards with a back hand, watching the boy do a back flip in the air and catch a boulder in mid flight, the heat his chakra cloak was giving off melting straight through the rock he was crouching on.

"Come on Naruto, this barely even counts as a warm up." Orochimaru said in a mocking tone, interested to see how much of the Kyuubi's power he could control.

Naruto just growled darkly, tightening his fist. Orochimaru didn't flinch as a second tail began to emerge, and the heat Naruto was giving off got even hotter.

If Orochimaru was worried though, he didn't show it. He stood there, almost completely relaxed while he smirked up at Naruto in an almost arrogant fashion. He hadn't even been trying at this point, maybe going at a really, really slow old man walking down the street compared to a professional runner sprinting.

Meh, maybe the old man was doing a power walk... he'll give him a _little _credit.

Naruto lunged at him again, still trying to impale his claws through Orochimaru's throat.

Orochimaru leaned out of the way, ignoring the fact that Naruto was practically a miniature sun in terms of how hot the chakra cloak was right now. He noticed that though they were minor at this point, not even noticeable until the adrenaline fades away, but Naruto had minor burns dotting his face and neck, likely extending through the rest of his body.

He jabbed Naruto in the gut, before he kicked him in the temple.

Instead of sending him flying like he intended, Naruto put a hand beneath him in a cartwheel and whacked Orochimaru right in the jaw with his foot.

The sannin stumbled, and Naruto took full advantage with an uppercut to the chin, actually knocking Orochimaru into the air. Naruto grabbed Orochimaru's ankle and smashed him into the ground, letting him bounce up once before kicking him and sending him flying towards the road.

Orochimaru turned around in midair and did a flip, landing on his feet with his back turned to Naruto. He turned around to look at Naruto, the arrogant smirk still haven't left his face.

"You could grow into a major thorn in my side if I let you live Naruto." He said, laughing slightly. Was he demented or something? "But you know, I'm feeling generous and I'll throw you a bone. You want to measure your growth, I'll actually show you a tenth of my power, sound fair?"

If Naruto was even listening, he didn't show it. They were now within arm's distance of the closest house from the village they were trying to leave.

The clone Naruto was watching with wide eyes at what he was seeing, the child clutching his back tightly. He couldn't find the kid's parents, which was starting to worry the clone. Not as much as seeing himself looking the way he was right now, but still it worried him.

"Kid, where's your house at? That's probably where your parents are." The clone turned around to look at the boy.

"It's right there." He pointed at the house right next to Orochimaru, which made the clone curse every god he could think of. "I can see Mommy inside."

His mother was inside. Next to the house with mister snake god and terrifying monster Naruto.

Lovely.

The clone relented a sigh, before he spoke. "Then hang tight kid, because this is a horrible idea."

Back in the fight, The real Naruto launched himself at Orochimaru, aiming to pummel the man straight to hell.

Orochimaru moved like a viper, ducking and weaving under Naruto's assault as if it was child's play.

"Is this your best? Really?" Orochimaru laughed, backhanding Naruto in the chest and sending him across the road, smashing him through a building.

Naruto was in a daze, not even able to stand. That felt more like getting hit by an elephant rather than getting backhanded!

The chakra cloak just dissipated, revealing the burns adorning his body. His right sleeve was torn off at the elbow, exposing his arm, and he had a nasty bruise forming on his jaw.

Orochimaru began to walk towards the destroyed building, when out of the corner of his eye he saw the clone that ran off earlier, desperately trying to get into building beside him.

Without warning, Orochimaru lifted his arm and let a snake fly at the clone, A sword coming out of its jaws. The clone reacted quickly, leaning to the side and catching it by the neck. He snapped said bone, before flinging it away, getting in a stance to defend himself.

"A single clone, expecting to be able to defeat me? All I need to do is land one hit." Orochimaru said plainly.

"Not if you can't catch me." The clone said, turning on his heels and sprinting the other direction.

Orochimaru rolled his eyes and gave a sigh. "Children don't learn." A cloud of smoke encompassed where he was and he appeared right in front of Naruto.

"Say, is that the kid from earlier?" Orochimaru asked, pointing to the boy clinging to Naruto's back. The woman that was inside her house saw her son and ran outside, trying to get to him.

Orochimaru glanced at her, and lifted his arm, ignoring Naruto's scream of outrage as he shot a snake for the woman's throat.

"You son of a bitch!" The clone screamed, covering the kid's eyes as the woman had her throat ripped open.

"Mommy...?" The boy whimpered, knocking Naruto's hand away to look at her. "Mommy!"

The boy started running towards her, the clone chasing after him yelling "Wait, don't-"

Orochimaru grabbed the boy by the throat, smirking while looking him in the eye.

"Don't hurt him!" Naruto shouted at Orochimaru, sounding desperate.. "Leave him alone!"

"No, I don't think I will leave him alone." The snake sannin said, his face twisting in a sadistic grin. "I want to see what happens to a jinchuriki when they're angry. I want to see how you react to your own failure." His grip tightened and a sickening pop filled the air, the boy's head falling limply to the side with his eyes still open.

Orochimaru tossed the boy into the clone of Naruto's chest, who stood there unresponsive and dissipated when the body hit him.

The snake sannin turned to look at the destroyed house almost expectantly. "Come out and play Naruto, if you can even stand."

Inside, Naruto was still struggling to get back up to his feet when the memories hit him like a punch to the gut. For a moment, he couldn't move from the shock he felt, but that was quickly replaced.

Replaced by absolute fury.

Naruto felt a wall inside of him crash down, and a rage like nothing he felt before consumed him. It wasn't like what happened on the bridge or a few minutes ago. No, this couldn't have been the Kyuubi's power. No, this was something else.

Naruto screamed in outrage, a blue light blasting through the ruins of the building he was in and going up into the sky like a beacon. The winds increased to typhoon speeds, the very ground beneath Naruto's feat began to char and crack from the sheer power being unleashed above it.

Orochimaru was certainly intrigued at this turn of events. 'Never in my life have I seen such a surprising individual. Just how much power is locked inside your body?'

His thoughts ran dead when Naruto lowered his head, the Jinchuriki's eyes boring into Orochimaru's soul.

They were not Naruto's normal eyes. No, they were brighter, the color of a mid day sky instead of a sapphire, and they had two black commas directly across from each other, a bigger black dot dead in the center.

Naruto had unlocked his sharingan.

Even though it was incomplete, it was a beautiful site for Orochimaru, to see such an anomaly ascend for the first time before his eyes. 'This is the result. This is what Minato and that Uchiha girl created.' The snake sannin thought with a grin. 'I wonder, how does it vary from the norm?'

Naruto looked calmly at Orochimaru, his vision never being so clear in his life. Everything was more defined, he could see everything to the smallest degree, even the way each blade of grass blew in the breeze.

"So Naruto-kun, You _do _have the eyes of your mother." Orochimaru praised, looking sickly satisfied. "But yet, even with all of your sudden progress, your still behind Sasuke. The _prodigy _of the Uchiha has mastered his sharingan, yet you just unlocked yours."

Naruto's body language gave nothing away, wearing a perfect poker face."I've got one thing that Sasuke doesn't though."

"And what is that?" Orochimaru asked still smirking arrogantly. It didn't matter that Naruto hadn't seen Sasuke in two months, Naruto was confident that Kakashi had yet to teach Sasuke this.

Naruto did one hand sign, before disappearing. In the next moment, his fist crashed into the blind side of Orochimaru's head.

"I learned how to Shushin." Naruto said from behind Orochimaru, before disappearing again.

Orochimaru put his hands on the ground and pushed himself up to his feet, his eyes darting around. He smirked, and ducked under the blow from behind in time this time, letting Naruto throw a flurry of blows at him to gauge how fast he could actually move.

'Much faster than before, more precise. His blows still lack Sasuke's raw strength with his own sharingan active, yet they are much faster. Still, maybe going at around a fifth of my power will suffice.'

Orochimaru swung his hand experimentally at Naruto, testing how he reacted with his new eyes. He was unsurprising when Naruto brushed the blow away, continuing his unsuccessful onslaught of punches.

'His defense is as expected of someone with the sharingan. The only true alterations are his movements as of yet, though he has yet he hasn't used any jutsu since awakening his eyes.' Orochimaru thought, his defenses beginning to wane.

Naruto finally landed a blow on Orochimaru's face, but it did little damage. In fact, all it did was scrape Naruto's knuckle, as if he hit a rock instead of a skull.

Orochimaru grinned, and kneed Naruto in the gut, then uppercutting the boy backwards.

The snake sannin added more force than he meant to on the two blows, feeling Naruto's ribcage and nose break on impact from them both. Orochimaru mentally shrugged at his error, noting that it didn't kill the boy, just injured him more than he meant to.

After all, toying around with his opponent wouldn't be fun if they fell unconscious after only an hour of battle.

Naruto got to his feet, wiping the blood from his nose away with his arm, before getting back in his stance for more. 'I will not die like this... I will not let this bastard beat me!' Naruto pledged in his head. 'Lets see just how many of these clones I can make!'

"Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruto shouted, summoning forth as many clones as he could muster.

Even Orochimaru was a little surprised. This was not a dozen, not fifty, not even a hundred. There had to be over five thousand clones, all with sharingan eyes and able to move faster than ever before.

'Okay, this is ridiculous.' Orochimaru decided, his eyes darting around. 'What is giving this boy so much chakra?'

The real Naruto was on his knees, panting. He was far in the back, hidden from Orochimaru's sight. But he was tired, he had never summoned anywhere near that many clones at once before. On top of that, a rib might have punctured a lung from Orochimaru's earlier attack.

'And to think this guy isn't even trying!' Naruto thought in slight amazement. 'I can't beat him, but I can stall him for Itachi-sensei to finish off... I hope.'

Orochimaru grinned, and just lifted his arms to launch snakes at the clones like rapid fire. Each reptile had a foot long sword coming from its mouth, impaling the clones in various locations. Once they were in arm's-length, however, Orochimaru made quick work of the rest of the army.

However, Once again, Naruto managed to surprise him. As Orochimaru took out the last clone, which he thought was the real one, Naruto did a series of hand signs and muttered the name under his breath.

"Fūton: Shinkūgyoku!"

The attack hit Orochimaru right in the chest, knocking him back and smacking him into the outside wall of the inn of the town.

Orochimaru shook himself of a momentary dizzy spell, and just had enough time to react to the fist about to knock him into next week.

'Damn.' Naruto thought, his fist smashing through the wall behind Orochimaru's head like it was made of paper. Orochimaru jabbed him in the stomach again, before elbowing Naruto in the back of his neck, sending him onto all fours.

However, before Orochimaru could try to finish him off, Naruto pushed himself up into the air and spun around, extending his leg and shouting "Eat this!"

Orochimaru ate it alright, a foot hitting him right in the chin and smashing his head right through the wood.

Naruto landed on his feet, punching Orochimaru in the sternum with all of his might, launching him straight through the inn and sending him into the forest behind it. The jinchuriki chased after him, feeling his confidence beginning to rise.

However, as soon as it hit a ceiling, it dropped dead to the floor. Naruto extended his fist to hit Orochimaru's face, but the sannin simply leaned to the side to let Naruto stumble past him.

Naruto bent over trying to stop himself, and he was giving a kick to the side of the head, smashing him into the ground hard enough to see stars. He tried to get up, but Orochimaru's foot stomped down on his chest making him wince.

The sannin stared down at Naruto with an unreadable expression, before he broke out in a grin.

"We'll be in touch Naruto-kun, try not to die any time soon... I have plans for you."

Orochimaru brought his foot down on Naruto's face, and he fell into a sea of black.

* * *

><p>Konoha, November 2<p>

"Begin Sasuke." Kakashi said, his arms crossed as he watched his students. They were in training ground seven, having been there since early morning. The afternoon sun was still not getting any warmer, Sasuke being able to see his own breath.

Since Naruto's 'death' two months ago, Kakashi absolutely refused to let team seven have anything above a D rank, mostly because of how that simple C rank turned into an A rank.

However, he absolutely refused to reign in their relentless training, especially with Sasuke. When he not training team seven or tutoring Sasuke, Kakashi was out taking solo missions to sharpen his skills.

He still had yet to really teach much of anything to Sakura, the girl simply not suited to fight as he did. Where he focused on ninjutsu, Sakura lacked the reserves to use half the moves that he wanted to teach her.

Fortunately, Sakura had taken to learning medical ninjutsu, believing that if she could have healed either Sasuke or Kakashi, it might've made a difference on the bridge. Even though there was only one person that died, that person was her teammate, and her friend. It hurt, especially since she was just starting to see Naruto was more than just a nuisance.

Sasuke however, took a different route. If Kakashi was being careless with how hard he was going, than Sasuke was being downright reckless. Every waking moment, he spent his time training. Whether that was working out kinks in his Taijutsu or perfecting his arsenal of Ninjutsu, he did it constantly.

His sharingan made copying the maneuvers easier, but Kakashi wanted him to have to put in some form of work and showed him the weakest possible version of every move he taught him.

Which to this point, had only been one move. He was afraid to do more than that, because if Sasuke did a single thing wrong with the weaker version of the attack, the best he could hope for would be a broken arm.

Imagine the repercussions of screwing up the powered up version.

"Chidori!" Sasuke cried, thrusting a lightning covered hand through a wooden dummy, leaving a small hole in the center.

'Damn it!' The last Uchiha loyal to Konoha swore in his head before speaking aloud, albeit in a quiet tone mostly to himself. "Still not good enough..."

"It's getting better Sasuke." Kakashi encouraged, setting up a new target. "You just need to keep practicing-"

"I don't want to practice, I want to hit someone!" Sasuke snapped, glancing at Kakashi with onyx eyes. "I have two months of pent up aggression that I have to take out on stuff that can't even hit me back! How will we be prepared for the chunin exams if we can't even do a mission that requires us to actually fight?!"

Kakashi frowned beneath his mask. Where did Sasuke even hear about them from? He wasn't planning on even telling team seven of the impending test yet, because he didn't think they were ready. "The exams this time strictly need three members on a team in order to participate. Two man cells are not allowed."

Not a lie, just not the truth either. It was _recommended _for cells of three, but not enforced. Oh well.

"Team eight is already signed on to participate, and Team ten is probably going to follow suit." Sasuke grumbled, going through hand signs again.

"And you think they're going to be good enough to win?" Kakashi asked in a dry voice, his lone visible eyebrow raised. Of course, he knew Sasuke was within shouting distance of being the best genin in all of Konoha at this point, but he wouldn't say that out loud in front of his pupil. He already had some ego issues, it would only hurt him to swell his head more.

"Right now? Probably not." Sasuke admitted, another good sign. "But in a month, I will be... Chidori!"

Sasuke slid his arm out, beads of sweat rolling down his face as he continued his statement. "Sakura should be good enough to get promoted as well."

"I doubt it, again." Kakashi ordered, to which Sasuke nodded after a moment to catch his breath. "Team seven already has to be on top of their game with a missing member, the thought that both of you will get promoted is a dream."

"We don't need another teammate, we already have one." Sasuke said, his voice icy. "You backed me up on this when they tried to give us a new member, the only person we'd accept back on Team seven is Dobe."

"Actually, I'm the only reason that you don't have a new teammate." Kakashi said blankly. "Your opinion didn't matter to them, the only reason they didn't is because I told them they would only find half of the body."

"Half?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

"Half. Now, do the Chidori again."

Sasuke went through the hand seals quickly, and cried out a third "Chidori!" before stabbing the third target. This time, he wasn't so quick about pulling his arm out, and when he finally did so, he fell down to his hands and knees, sweat dripping off his forehead and hair.

"Looks like... three... is still my limit." Sasuke panted to himself, though out of the corner of his eyes he saw Kakashi setting up another dummy.

"Again." Kakashi ordered, lightly kicking Sasuke's shoulder to get the boy up. "You say that you're the best genin in Konoha, so get up and prove it. Prove to me you deserve to go to the chunin exams."

Sasuke tried to get up but fell back down. "...I can't..." Sasuke panted heavily, barely even able to lift his head to look at Kakashi. "I'm out of chakra-"

"If I ever hear you say the words 'I can't' again, I'll give you the worse beating of your life." Kakashi said, his tone turning harsh and cold. Sasuke lifted his head to look at his sensei, a little alarmed at the sudden change of attitude. "Get the hell up and do it again."

Sasuke maintained his stare at Kakashi for a few more moment, before struggling back up to his feet. He took a deep breath and went through hand seals at a much slower pace than before.

Kakashi watched wordlessly, not giving Sasuke any advice. He wouldn't let Sasuke give himself a ceiling under any circumstance.

The Uchiha managed to gather enough chakra to form the move, but thanks to his exhaustion he couldn't hold it and it exploded in his face. He fell limply to the ground face first.

"What are you doing?" Kakashi asked, his tone still harsh but not quite as much as before. "I told you to do it again."

"I tried..." Sasuke said, his voice muffled on the ground. He couldn't even move right now.

"Trying isn't good enough." Kakashi couldn't believe this. He relented a sigh and shook his head. "And you are the latest prodigy to date... If you were ten years older, you'd be considered mediocre at best."

The harsh truth went in one ear and out the other for the Uchiha, a fact that did not go unnoticed by Kakashi.

"We'll continue this tomorrow." Kakashi said, disappearing in a poof of smoke.

"Fucking drill sergeant." Sasuke mumbled, falling asleep exactly where he was laying.

* * *

><p>Ino sighed dejectedly as her team was being forced to take the bell test again. This time they only faired slightly better, because they actually knew the point of the test from the beginning.<p>

Slight because instead of whipping their ass in ten minutes, they lasted eleven. Choji had a broken leg, so their big hitter was out of commission. They were currently playing the duck and run tactic, having hidden from Asuma for the last hour. It got to the point they were all hiding at the top of a tree, the leaves that had yet to fall hiding them.

"Aren't you guys trying to convince me to sign you all up for the chunin exams?" Asuma called out, walking through the forest of team ten's training ground "You're not doing a good job you know!"

"I still say my plan would've worked." Ino grumbled. "Choji could've distract him, Shika can just use his shadow to hold Asuma sensei and I can-"

"It wouldn't have work Ino, Choji can't keep up with Asuma's speed, I can't overpower him, and if you miss you're left wide open to an attack." Shikamaru sighed lazily. "This is such a drag, why can't we just throw in the towel so I can go home and get some sleep."

"I swear to Kami Shikamaru," Ino smacked him lightly in the back of the head. "You say my plans suck and won't come up with one better!"

"That's because I already did." Shikamaru shrugged. "Your plan is a good one, just needed a little shifting around with Choji's busted leg. You and I play the distraction, since we're faster than Choji and Asuma can't knock us both out at once, which would let Choji get him from behind, and we pray that Asuma is having an off day."

"Cute plan, might've worked too... if I didn't hear it."

Shikamaru's face turned chalky and he looked beside him. Asuma was leisurely lounging at the end of the branch, a cigarette dangling from his mouth. He smiled lightly and gave them a good natured wave.

"AHHH!"

* * *

><p>Thirty minutes later<p>

Team ten was all sitting on the ground with their legs crossed, scowls on their faces. Large bumps were on top of their heads, almost glistening in the afternoon sun.

"You kids are getting better, but still I'm not convinced." Asuma said, scratching his beard honestly. The cigarette was nearing the end of its lifespan, barely any tobacco left over the filter. "None of you lack the talent to take part in the chunin exams, but you each lack the mindset of a chunin."

Ino shot a look at Shikamaru. He was the reason they didn't see Asuma coming, at least from her perspective. "Not all of us, if Shika wasn't so lazy we'd-"

"All of you Ino. All of you lack the mindset of someone who will be asked to lead squads, take solo missions, and not be babied any longer. You are still to spoiled, too used to things going your way. You also tend to blame others instead of taking responsibility for the team."

Ino deflated, looking away from Shikamaru and towards the ground.

"However, you are not entirely wrong." Asuma admitted, turning his attention to the Nara clan heir. "Shikamaru, you're unmotivated to accomplish anything above mediocrity in life, and that is dragging the entire team down there with you. The other two want more out of their careers than this you know."

Shikamaru looked away, frowning. He knew they wanted to excel, but was he really dragging them down?

"And Choji... you're to nice." Asuma smiled in amusement, because that wasn't something he thought he would say was a fault in a ninja before today. "You lack the backbone to beat someone when they deserve it, which can be seen as the morally good thing. But when the chips are down, and your teammates need you to be angry and want to hurt their enemy, you fail to do so."

"Sorry Asuma-sensei." Choji mumbled.

Before Asuma could continue, Shikamaru felt the need to speak up, a rare occurrence for him. "To be fair though, they are still a month away." he pointed out. "And that's just the date we have to leave to get there on time. The actual test is December tenth, which still give us a little more time to grow up more."

"And get stronger." Ino added in agreement.

"And eat more food!"

"Not helping Choji."

"But still!"

"Give us another shot Sensei, one we actually stand a chance in." Ino pleaded. She knew they were good enough to make it, and damn it she wanted that promotion!

"I've seen enough." Asuma said bluntly, putting out his cigarette. He took a deep breath, as if purposely drawing it out for dramatic effect.

"I already signed you guys up."

Cue crickets chirping...

"What!"

Asuma chuckled to himself, rubbing his neck. Honestly, why hadn't anyone told him how much fun it was messing with his genin squad? Over the last five months, he had seen some of the most hilarious things thanks to their blunders, much to their annoyance.

"The day you guys can beat me is the day I retire. You weren't supposed to win, no team's won either the first try or the retake." Asuma explained. "It was protocol, we had to measure your growth. You guys are going to the chunin exams in a month, so congratulations."

Team ten's joyous shouts were heard clear across the village.

* * *

><p>November 2, night time<p>

Naruto groaned, opening his eyes and finding himself staring up at a familiar ceiling once again.

'Damn, what hit me?' He thought in pain, rubbing his head in an attempt to make the splitting head ache fade away. "It feels like I just got kicked in the face by a donkey... twice."

"That's to be expected, facing Orochimaru." Itachi's voice spoke up next to him.

Naruto looked over at him, "Welcome back to the land of the living Naruto-kun." Itachi greeted, a plate of sushi in front of him. There was a bowl of Miso ramen on the nightstand next to him.

However, before Naruto could do anything, he remembered the tragedy that just occurred due to his negligence. "...Those villagers..."

Itachi said nothing, because there was nothing he could say to make Naruto feel better. It might not have been Naruto's fault that people died in the crossfire of his battle, but he certainly had an opportunity to prevent it.

He just wasn't strong enough.

"...You've unlocked your eyes." The raven summoner noted, looking at the boy's eyes shining unnaturally bright in the dim lighting. Two commas appeared across each other, his eye brightening to reflect the color of a midday sky instead of a sapphire.

"I got them... when Orochimaru killed a kid and his mother." Naruto said, clenching his fist until his knuckles turned white.

Itachi's brow furrowed. Naruto didn't know the boy, yet that awoke his eyes? It was plausible, Sasuke only achieved them to save someone's life, so failing to do so might do the same.

"All that training was useless, I'm no better than I was two months ago! Damn it!" Naruto shouted in frustration while he hit the wall next to him, denting the plaster. "I wasn't strong enough to make the guy flinch!"

"Naruto, calm down." Itachi ordered. "Yes, you lost that fight, but in all honesty it was expected. As far as you've come, you're still not an S-rank shinobi. And right now, I need you to focus on something else."

Naruto breathed deeply, nodding in understanding.

"Focus your chakra through your eyes, you should be able to do this to turn them on and off."

Naruto blinked, finding that it took a moment, but he could. The normal blue shade reappeared, and the two commas disappeared.

"Can you still see?" Itachi asked, slightly worried.

"Yeah, not as well though." Naruto muttered, still clearly upset with himself at losing.

"Naruto, your training has helped you jump leaps and bounds." Itachi said, understanding his frustration. "Two months ago, you would've been killed five seconds flat against a skilled chunin that took you seriously. The fact that you can say you went toe to toe with Orochimaru of the Sannin and lived is not only impressive, but astonishing. I'm proud of you Naruto, you've grown so much more powerful in these two months than the dying boy I fished out of a river. You're practically destined for greatness, but you must work hard in everything you do to earn it."

Naruto looked up at the man, never hearing such praise about him in his life. "...you really think so, Itachi-sensei?"

"A few days to let your injuries heal, then a few more to learn how to use your sharingan's full capacity, and I promise, you would be ready for your exam in three months time." Itachi promised. "You'll be delayed a week at the most."

"And by the end of that week, I'd be home? Where would you be?"

Itachi relented a sigh. Oh, he knew what he was about to do, and it was so outrageous that it might as well of been considered suicide.

"Tying up loose ends."

* * *

><p>Orochimaru was staring out the window in his office, watching as countless people continued to build the village.<p>

They were members of his partner's clan. His partner was still out and about, taking an elite squad with him to go and gather samples for Orochimaru.

But that was not what was on the snake nin's mind. No, he was thinking about the potential power that Naruto could possess, how it was just absolutely ridiculous how his pedigree made him seem like his potential had no ceiling. 'No wonder the Jinchuriki of the world are feared...' he mused, his reflection staring back at him through the glass.

There was a knock on the door, and Orochimaru glanced back at it once before he spoke with his back turned. "Enter."

The door clicked open, and in stepped a woman with fair skin and dark eyes, her light blue hair in a spiky ponytail with longs strands of hair framing her face. Her outfit consists of a green dress with a long left sleeve and a short right one, a red turtle-neck which has a white, fluffy collar and brown gloves. Under the dress, she was wearing a one piece red suit. For shoes, she wore calf-length brown sandal boots.

"You're late Guren." Orochimaru said, his back still turned. "Still, it is good that you showed up when you did. I need someone to be my eyes during the chunin exams this time around, and act as the sensei of the team we are sending in."

"What about our insider? And what Team?" Guren asked, wanting him to elaborate further. Orochimaru was unusually happy, which struck Guren as odd.

"He will participate to scout out potential in the genin crop this year, but I need someone to do the same for some of the higher ups." Orochimaru explained. "The exams are taking place in Kumoagakure this year, and I want to put a little display of force. That, and I want to see if the relationship between Suna and Konoha has degraded further."

"Hai."

"Besides, our insider will have his eyes on Team seven for me, his objectives will be different from your own."

Guren had heard of the team, Orochimaru spoke very highly of Uchiha Sasuke's potential and Hatake Kakashi's prowess. However, team seven was missing a member and had yet to sign up, at least to her knowledge.

Still she was smart enough to not say anything on that. When Orochimaru tells you to do something, you better make damn sure to do it.

"Have you ever seen a jinchuriki up close Guren?" Orochimaru asked, a strange change of topic in her mind. "So strange, so _powerful._"

"What?" The change of topic was unexpected to her, though Orochimaru was behaving erratically for some reason. Almost... twitchy.

"Oh, yes. Your unasked question." Orochimaru said, smiling in a disturbing fashion. "The missing member of team seven should be back in Konoha by the end of the week. I've already tested him... team seven will be in the chunin exams, and something tells me they'll go far into it." Orochimaru added in jollily.

"Okay..." Guren was a little more than concerned with Orochimaru's mental well being right now, the man was far to jolly for her taste. She preferred it when the man was forcing people to fight to the death or torturing some poor soul, not when he seemed like he was on the rush of ten cups of coffee and about to tap dance.

"Okay? No, it's better than okay..." Orochimaru laughed. "It's perfect."

"If you say so." Guren shrugged. "When am I meeting this team that I'm supposed to be leading?"

As soon as she asked, there was a knock on the door. Guren glanced back, while Orochimaru turned around to face her and called out "Enter."

In stepped three fourteen year old kids.

The first was a boy that had spiky, dark hair and dark eyes. He wore a dark yellow shirt with two black stripes and three prints of the kanji for death down the front. His forehead protector came down to wrap around his head like a helmet. This was Zaku.

The second was a girl that had very long black hair, almost reaching down to the ground, tied by a violet ribbon right near the end, and black eyes. She wore a forehead protector, a pale green vest somewhat similar to a flak jacket, and snake patterned pants and a scarf with black spots. This was Kin.

The third and obviously the leader of the trio, he had bandages covering most of his face, leaving only his left eye uncovered. He also wore a large poncho with long sleeves, a patterned scarf around his neck, a mass of straw protruding from the back of his scarf, and a large amplifier on his right arm for most of his attacks. His back was hunched, which made him look smaller than he actually was. This was Dosu.

"Meet your team Guren." Orochimaru said, using his hand to gesture to the three children. "I want you to train them for the next month, before taking them to the exam."

"Wait, this chick is our new sensei?" Zaku asked, giving her a once over. "She's kinda hot..."

"This _chick _will knit a sweater from your intestines." Guren glowered at the boy, a kunai of crystal forming in her hand in a threatening manner.

"Knock it off Zaku." Dosu ordered. "She's in charge of training us, don't make this hard on all of us."

Guren glanced at him, but said nothing. She turned on her heels and said "Alright brats, lets go."

Team Dosu glanced at Orochimaru, who gave a smirk and waved them off. They turned around and followed their new sensei, eager to get stronger.

* * *

><p>Kisame was kneeling in front of Pein, who looked down at him impassively. Samehada was strapped to his back, pressed against a bandage beneath his Akatsuki cloak.<p>

"The fox jinchuriki got away." Pein's observation was on point, though Kisame said nothing of the sort yet. "How could he have escaped from a sannin and yourself, Kisame? Please explain."

"You're asking the wrong person." Kisame grunted, his eyes on the ground. "While I fought Itachi, Orochimaru was the one that fought the boy leader-sama."

Pein looked down at the Monster of the mist for a moment, before he turned his head and attention to the vast city before him.

'I should have known Orochimaru would pull this.' He thought, noticing the messager hawk coming to him, bearing an Otogakure insignia.

It landed on his outstretched arm, and he unrolled the message on it, reading it silently.

"...It does not matter." Pein waved off, his face still blank. "We got what we needed today."

Kisame was confused by that. He was under the impression that they wanted to take the fox to jumpstart their mission and make it easier down the road. They still needed funds, it will take three years to build up the amount needed. But still, if they could've taken the Kyuubi, they would've been able to avoid Konoha all together, assuring their success.

What was on that message that made Pein change his plans?

"Orochimaru has delivered to us a report on his abilities... it's safe to say that even with two months away from his team, they will be participating in the exams." Pein stated, walking towards the open window. "This could work out for our favor."

"Huh?" Kisame was confused. Was Pein even talking to him at this point?

"Do not worry yourself over this Kisame. It was best for all of us that he got away." Pein said with his back turned, a streak of lightning flashing through the skies. "Go to Otogakure, and deliver a message for me Kisame."

"To Orochimaru?" Kisame asked. He wasn't complaining, but didn't they have messenger hawks of their own?

Oh wait... Itachi's raven's did that...

"Yes. Tell him to order his spy to watch Uzumaki's progress." Pein ordered. "And to keep me informed."

"Hai leader-sama." Kisame bowed his head before standing up. He walked towards the door, not speaking the thoughts in his head. 'Though Orochimaru probably already did that first part.'

* * *

><p>Jutsu list (In order they appear)<p>

Kage Bunshin no Jutsu- Shadow Clone. B-ranked. Instead of making fake clones that cannot do much of anything, these clones are solid. The caster can remember everything the clone does, such as what they read or what they've seen.

Fūton: Daitoppa- Great Breakthrough. C-ranked. A technique that creates a sudden gust of wind, though it's power is determined by its user (IE, an average chunin uses it, it can destroy a part of a forest. A kage can use this to destroy an entire mountain.

Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu- Great Fireball. C-ranked. A popular move among the Uchiha clan, It is a technique where the user's chakra kneaded inside the body is converted into fire and expelled from the mouth as a massive orb

Katon: Karyū Endan- Fire Dragon Flame Bullet. B-ranked. The user molds their chakra into flames, then manipulates the shape into a dragon (The ones with no wings).

Suiton: Suikōdan no Jutsu- Water shark bullet. B-ranked. The user shapes water into the form of a large shark and thrusting their hand forward, sends it hurtling towards the opponent at high-speeds, resulting in a powerful impact.

Suiton: Suidan no Jutsu- Water bullet. C-ranked. A highly versatile technique which has many variations. After kneading chakra in their stomach, the user expels a large quantity of water in the form of a torrent towards their intended target.

Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu- Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu. A-ranked. A massive version of the regular shadow clone technique, it clones mass numbers of the user.

Fūton: Shinkūgyoku- Vacuum Sphere. B-ranked. The user takes a deep breath and then exhales a powerful blast of wind chakra. It can be fired in rapid succession from one shot, dispersing the attack over an expansive range, enough to make it difficult to avoid them entirely without taking any damage. Due to the properties of this technique, the expelled blasts are capable of piercing into and potentially through an opponent's flesh when they collide with it.

* * *

><p>And that's a wrap on chapter two. I decided to put the jutsu names in Japanese (Almost all of my favorite stories on this site do it, so why not?).<p>

Please note that update speeds will vary. Sometimes, they are quick like this was, and others not so much. I have no schedule set for this and update it whenever, so don't go cursing at me if I'm gone a month or two.

Also, a review or two is mightily apprieciated... or twenty of them... (Hint hint)

Ocean's fury, signing off


	3. Return Home

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Naruto Shippuuden. I only own the plot.

* * *

><p>November 8, early morning<p>

A week passed by relatively slow for Naruto, mostly due to being forced to spend half the week on bed rest. Once he was able to move, Itachi made him jump right into how to use his sharingan, giving him pointers and sparring with him to help Naruto train it.

And while he was perfectly healed, he was still sore from the fight he had with Orochimaru a little over a week ago. He didn't know it then, but he used all of his reserves in making the army of clones to fight against Orochimaru, which forced the fox had to lend Naruto more power than normal to survive.

To which Itachi nearly strangled him over whilst screaming "Why the fuck didn't you run away?" at him for over an hour.

Could you really blame Naruto though? Training tirelessly for two months straight, and you have an opportunity to see how far you grow, against a _sannin_! Why exactly would Naruto want to run and hide for Itachi to save him when he could very well at least try to fight himself?

Aside from the fact that Orochimaru very easily could've snapped his neck. Or ruptured his spine. Or _break _his spine.

Or just flat-out kill him.

Itachi explained to Naruto the pitfalls of relying in the kyuubi's power like that, such as when he did so summoning the army of clones.

_"The Bijuu are chakra monsters Naruto-kun. They are like an endless supply of chakra, but you," Itachi poked Naruto in the forehead. "are not. You have to know your limits, and instead of trying to kill yourself to break through them, work on it slowly! You can summon hundreds of clones at a time, but five thousand? Even a bijuu would be winded for trying that. Build your control up before you do something that reckless."_

_Naruto frowned at that. "But I still managed to pull it off."_

_"You managed to do it while depleting the entirety of your reserves, which would have killed anyone else if they did it." Itachi glared half-heartedly at Naruto to get his point across. "Anyone."_

_Naruto took the time to let the words digest, and for Itachi to finish. _

_"And to make matters worse, it was it wasn't enough and you used some of the fox's chakra, hence why you're still sore. If the fox wasn't inside you healing you almost at all times, you would be dead from Chakra depletion, or at the very least your chakra pathways would be ruptured permanently. The most you're ever going to summon is roughly a thousand, never use such an extreme again."_

_Naruto's jaw clenched, but he nodded stiffly. "...Hai Itachi-sensei. I'll remember that."_

Now, Naruto was not happy with anyone setting a limit on him, but he understood that the possibility of death was the alternative. He decided to listen to Itachi on his bit of advice and not rely so much on his clones in combat.

As for where they were at the moment, Itachi and Naruto were less than a mile outside the village of Konohakure, and were saying their farewells. It was kind of weird for Naruto, two months ago the only thing Naruto thought about Itachi was that the man was batshit insane, as well as insanely powerful. Now though, Naruto knew that he was a peaceful, kind, and awesome shinobi, that just did extremely bad things.

He should have hated Itachi, or maybe respected him for his power. Hell, he should've feared him, he was supposed to be a cold-blooded murderer after all.

But instead Naruto looked up to him.

Itachi was the first true jonin level ninja that taught him, as Kakashi was never given the chance to do it. Under Itachi's eye, Naruto learned a lot, more than enough to prove that Naruto was not the dead last he was in the academy. With all this, Naruto was half tempted to ask if he could stay with him longer.

But he couldn't. It wasn't because he was scared, not because he was nervous, but because being so close to home yet kept away from it made him grow homesick. Being within running distance of his friends, yet kept away to grow stronger just sounded painful, and after two months of it, he wasn't entirely sure he would be doing it again.

Sure, he disliked the villagers, but he was hoping that some time away from them lessened their hate for him. After all, time was supposed to heal all wounds.

One would hope.

"I guess this is goodbye, huh sensei?" Naruto asked.

Itachi gave a ghost of a smile. Over the last few months, he had grown to like him per say, he was eager to learn anything Itachi wanted to teach him. That mindset was going to take him far in life if he kept it. "I believe so Naruto."

Naruto grinned, putting his hands behind his head and chuckling merrily. "You better be watching the Chunin exams Itachi-sensei. Because I'm going to win the whole thing! I guarantee it!"

Itachi's smile broadened. "A lofty goal for someone who isn't even back home yet."

Naruto's hands fell down to the side as he started jumping up and down in anticipation and excitement. "You watch Sensei. I promise, that I'll beat anyone they put in my way, and Team Seven will be the last team standing!"

Itachi shook his head, not in a condescending manner, but in one of humor. He ruffled Naruto's hair before he said "Stay safe, Naruto-kun." Itachi turned on his heel, and began down the road away from Konoha.

"You too, Itachi-sensei." Naruto called back, before leaping through the trees and sprinting to his home. He ran like a whirlwind, the forestry and grassland passing him like blurs as he jumped from branch to branch on the thick trees of the :and of Fire

The birds songs came and went, and before long he had arrived at the village hidden in the leaves, and once he did, he immediately went to the registration booth to signed himself in at the registration booth.

The two gate guards were not the usual pair, This time being two unimportant chunin that seemed to hate Naruto with every fiber their being.

Upon signing his ninja number and his name, he handed it to the guard, who inspecting it. The guard sighed in annoyance. "Nice try kid, shoulda done that prank a few months ago."

Naruto rolled his eyes. Honestly, who would be that big of a dick to pretend they were him while he was thought to be dead? "It's not a prank, how else would I know my ninja number?"

At the familiar sound of Naruto's voice, the guard looked up lazily. He was expecting it to be some horrid disguise, but to his surprise it he was staring right into the face of the thirteen year old though he did have that horrid scar running horizontally under his eye like a fourth whisker.

"How... you're alive?" The guard sounded more than a little disappointed, but he at least had the decency to try to hide it. He was a shinobi of Konoha, and though he disliked Naruto, having him back would be a deterrent against other nations.

Naruto bit back a sarcastic response, and just nodded. "Yeah... alive and in one piece." As he spoke, he beat his chest. "Ain't nothing killing me before I become Hokage."

His first instinct was the false act of overconfidence, a familiar mask that Naruto could slip on with ease. And though outside he kept the natural façade of confidence, inside his gut was churning.

Naruto should have expected such a welcome, he wasn't well liked before he left, and it wasn't like anything had changed since then. He should've known nothing would change.

The guard sighed as he wrote some things down, practically radiating disappointment. He sent Naruto on his way, not bothering to watch him leave.

Naruto stuffed his hands in his pockets and walked off, clenching his fists inside his pockets. Of course the first place he was going was the Hokage tower to report to the Hokage, protocol for a shinobi that's been missing for a few months.

And the further he walked, the more he remembered how much the people hated him. He felt all the terrified stares, he heard the disgusted whispered, and he felt the insults.

"fox brat."

"Demon punk."

"Murderer."

"Bastard."

He frowned sourly, not knowing who was saying what. He did his best to ignore it as he continued to walk, the thought coming only once before he shoved it to the back of his mind. 'Maybe I shouldn't have came back.'

After all, this was almost ridiculous. People he didn't even know were glaring at him, stores were actually closing up as he past, even the parents were pulling their kids closer to them protectively.

"...Damn, thought that punk was killed or something..." A woman's voice said to Naruto's left. He grimaced slightly, while to his right he heard an old man mumble "...I hope the scar hurt, Demon brat..."

Naruto clenched his fist inside his pockets and took a deep breath, but he kept walking as he always did. 'I definitely didn't miss this.' he thought grimly.

Normally, he would shrug it off. He didn't care what they thought of him, he never has. But now... he wasn't used to this. He was used to being able to go somewhere without someone cursing his very existence.

Now he knew that outside of Konoha's giant walls, it was different.

The people were nicer, never insulting him unless he did something stupid such as stubbing his toe on the corner, and they just muttered under their breath 'Dumbass.' or something along those lines. Stores didn't jack the prices up as soon as he walked through the door, letting him pay what everyone had to. Or as of more currently, close up shop at the mere sight of him.

Parents didn't keep their children away from him out of spite and fear. The stranger danger rule still applied, but they didn't physically keep their kids away from him.

What made it sting more, was that for so long this place, for all of its faults, it was his home.

Now, He knew the peace he could find, he knew the happiness he felt outside. Out there in the rest of the world, he was a nobody. No one knew him for something that wasn't his fault, and no one even cared about him enough to hate him.

He was normal out there. And he liked the feeling. It was certainly better than Konoha, a cesspool of hate reserved just for him. One where people did everything they could to bring him down, force him down to the point of contemplating suicide as a means to an end. They couldn't actually touch him, he didn't know because they were afraid or if they were smart enough to know that, but they still tried everything they could to make his life worse than hell.

And thinking on all of this, it made him reconsider coming back.

* * *

><p>Team ten was at their usual meeting place in the mornings, the barbeque place down the street from Ichiraku Ramen. Choji and Asuma had claimed the outside seats, which trapped Shikamaru and Ino on the inside of the booth.<p>

Currently, Choji was piling on as much bacon as he could onto the grill to the angst of Asuma, who was looking out for both his student's and his wallet's health. Shikamaru was snoozing with his head laid down on the table, snoring softly.

Ino was lost in thought, looking out the window. It became sort of a habit of hers, to lose herself in her thoughts.

But that didn't make her unobservant. She watched the hundreds of people walking by the window, though something managed to catch her eye.

Orange. It was like a beacon to say 'Hey, look at me!' compared to the more natural colors that the villagers wore, but it actually seemed to be more of a desperate grab for attention than any of the other bright colors.

Coincidence? I think not.

"I told you guys he wasn't dead." Ino stood up abruptly, an angry look on her face. "Move Choji, I need to go kick that baka's ass!"

She knocked down a glass, a noise which made the Nara heir across from her jump. "Wait what's going on? Why's Ino breaking things?"

Choji was scooting out of her way, though it was taking longer than it should have because he was making sure the bacon remained perfectly in tact.

Shikamaru groaned and mumbled sleepily "What's got her panties in a bunch?"

"I don't know, Ino just said something about kicking someone's ass."

"Damn right!" Ino stomped towards the front door of the store. "Oh god did Sakura do something to Sasuke?" Shikamaru groaned again, lifting up his head and beginning to slip out of the booth. Asuma letting him slip by a lot quicker than Choji to chase after her with the Akimichi.

"How should I know?" Choji retorted, waving goodbye to Asuma. "I'll be back for that bacon!"

Shikamaru saw someone wearing bright orange, and said "Who the hell would wear that bright ass orange... oh..."

Ino got to him first, but Shikamaru was the one who spoke first. "Naruto, run!"

Before Ino could hit him, Naruto turned around to look at the Nara that shouted, and she stopped right in her track. The scar on his face was not something any of them expected to see on his face.

Team ten couldn't help themselves and stared at his eye, though they looked away after a few seconds. It was the first time any of them had seen a battle wound on someone their age.

"Damn man..." Shikamaru muttered under his breath.

"I call it the fourth whisker. Brings out my eyes, no?" Naruto joked lamely, giving a small smile to ease the sudden tension. He wasn't going to ask why they were yelling at him to run, and instead continued on to greet team ten. "Hey Choji, hey Shika, Hey Ino. How's it going?"

Before either Choji or Shikamaru could speak, Ino remembered she was about to beat Naruto half to death. "You baka, where the hell have you been for two months! People thought you _died _and you come home and act like nothing happened!"

"Uh..." Naruto rubbed his neck sheepishly. He wasn't expecting to leave such a mark on much of anything around in Konoha. "I was trying to find out about my family... since no one knew anything around here, I figured I could ask around elsewhere before I made it back home... I didn't think people would care that I was gone, sorry."

Ino was taken aback by that response, as was the rest of Team ten. It was hard for them to remember that Naruto never had anyone that cared about him, growing up in families full of cousins and uncles and the whole works.

Naruto however, was inwardly fist pumping at his quick thinking. It wasn't a lie, he did ask Itachi a lot about his parents, it just wasn't the only thing he was doing.

"I was also training though," he added quickly. "I met new people and learned new techniques. Who knows, maybe if my team works on working together, two of us'll pass the chunnin exam next months!"

"Two? Sasuke and Sakura?" Shikamaru asked sarcastically.

"Sasuke and me." Naruto deadpanned. "No offense to Sakura, but she was utterly useless on the bridge. She did nothing but stare at Sasuke's ass while we were on that bridge, even when the guy was out cold and I had to fight a hundred people. She's smart, but this isn't a math test." Naruto explained, ignoring the wide eyed people in front of him. "Don't get me wrong, she's still pretty and all, but still..."

Ino stared at him, trying to see if that really was the blond boy. He acted much more mature than before he left, it was surprising. Adding onto the fact, he worshipped the very ground Sakura walked on, now here he was, practically insulting her, even though he complimented her after.

"Really Naruto?" The Akimichi clan heir shook his head. "For a second, I thought you moved on. Such a shame."

Shikamaru nodded in agreement, and said "So, still got the hots for her huh?"

Naruto fidgeted awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck and laughing nervously. "Wording it like that is a little... off? I mean, I like her, but not like I used to."

"So, then who do you got the hots for then?" Shikamaru asked with a sly smile.

Naruto's uncomfortable shuffle didn't go unnoticed. "Uh-"

Shikamaru nudged Naruto jokingly, while Choji added "Come on Naruto, tell us!"

To Ino, it was a little funny watching Naruto squirm like this, the boy usually radiated confidence. Plus, she was curious about it too.

Naruto gave a nervous chuckle and tried sidestepping the question."For two guy who seriously don't care about almost a single thing, you're both awfully curious about my life at the moment."

"You just came back from the dead, of course I'm curious." Shikamaru snorted, getting a nod of agreement from choji. "And stop trying to avoid the question, it isn't like you to be unconfident."

"I'm hungry, doesn't mean I'm heading straight for Ichiraku's." Naruto replied, not heeding the statement and avoiding the question. Upon seeing the Shikamaru look at him like he was a bald-faced liar, Naruto sighed and said "Okay, I might have been heading there this time..."

Shikamaru looked satisfied at that, so Naruto continued. "Anyway, The first thing I want to do is go talk to the Hokage, then get back with my team and get to work. I want to be ready for the chunnin exams in two months, like all of you guys want to be." Naruto said, coming up with a better distraction from the question.

"You... think you're ready for it?" Shikamaru's voice was serious now. "You think _we _are ready for it?"

As it was already said, Naruto had never had an issue with confidence, but even he knew that he was behind everyone else from their class five months ago, and even told the Nara heir that he was a little scared he'd never make it up the ranks as quick as they would.

Naruto smiled, and said simply. "All of us should be. I don't think you all realized this, but we are the most prominent generation in almost all of Konoha's history. We have six clan heirs all from one class that graduated and made it to Gennin, two entire teams are stocked full of them, and the dead last has some of the darkest demons and horrid powers stuck inside of him. Every one of us will pass that test, either this time or the next one in six months. I guarantee it."

Ino didn't know what he meant by darkest demons and most horrid power, but from his tone it was obvious that the boy did not want to talk about it.

Still, her teammates weren't as good at reading tones of voices. "What do you mean by darkest demons and horrid powers?" Choji asked with a little bit of worry on his face for his friend.

'Did I actually say that out loud?' Naruto asked himself, before he smacked his forehead. "...Forget I said that, it's not important right now." he muttered, his voice getting quiet.

Ino saw the flickering look of unbridled sadness on Naruto's face before the smile returned to his face, something that escaped the notice of her team.

And while the smile would've fooled most people, it didn't fool the daughter of one of Konoha's best interrogators. From a young age, Ino learned how to read body and facial expressions, and the look of shattered glass still remained in his eyes.

Naruto gave a thumbs up and a forced laugh. "I'll see you guys later."

With that, Naruto let his arm fall to his side and turned on his heels, and leapt into the air, landing on the rooftops, before sprinting at a speed that they could barely see.

"Dang, he's gotten fast." Choji sputtered. "I thought he was kidding about the training part!"

"Guess he wasn't..." Shikamaru nodded in agreement. "Look at him, he's like a streak jumping from roof to roof."

Ino felt her breath hitch, and she was unable to look away. 'An Orange Streak.' She amended Shikamaru's analogy in her head. 'He was an Orange Streak.'

* * *

><p>Hyuuga Hinata was sitting against a tree of the park, Team eight's usual morning place. Since the day Naruto was announced missing, not only had she had grown colder and more stoic, she began wearing her forehead protector on her head instead of around her neck.<p>

Her team didn't know what was going on with her, though they assumed it had something to do with Naruto, but in reality, it was more of a family matter.

Presently, he was seated next to a stoic Aburame Shino. They were listening to Kiba talk about when Akamaru actually managed to catch his tail, when a distinct orange dart zipped towards the Hokage Tower going from roof-to-roof.

Kiba stopped his story as he looked up, seeing just how fast the boy was, yet not being able to recognizing him from so far away. "Hey Kurenai-sensei, who the heck is that guy?" He asked, gawking in the general direction he watched the boy run.

The genjutsu mistress of Konoha squinted, but came up empty. She could literally feel a slight pulse in the air, like a beacon of chakra coming from his direction. "I don't know." she shrugged, seeing Hinata had activated her Byakugan to get a better look. "Hinata, can you see who it is?"

"It's Naruto." She said after a moment. Her face was blank, almost as stoic as Shino Aburame's personality. "It would seem that he's not as dead as they claim, sensei."

While Akamaru barked from atop the Inuzuka's head, Kiba blinked twice before he squinted at the fading dot that was apparently Uzumaki Naruto. "So, Mr. Deadlast survived, huh?" he grinned and boastfully said. "He must've been trying to get stronger or something so he wasn't so weak, but he's still behind me."

In an odd twist, it was Shino that spoke up, something out of character for him. "Kiba-san, did you not see how fast Naruto was running?" He said, mostly because he was getting annoyed by the constant sound of Kiba's voice. "He was moving at a pace faster than anything you've ever done, and he wasn't breaking a sweat."

"So?" The Inuzuka heir questioned. "I'd crush him if we fought, like everyone else would!" Kiba exclaimed, Akamaru yipping his agreement.

"But how would you catch him?" Kurenai asked lightly, wondering how he would react to facing an opponent faster than himself. It seemed like Naruto wasn't even trying to run that fast, yet he was moving at a pace that made Kiba sprinting at top speed seem crippled.

Kiba blinked, but found that he couldn't answer. He clenched his fist and looked over at Hinata, who was still staring off in the direction Naruto was running, a small feeling of jealousy gnawing at the back of his mind.

'Damn you, Naruto.' Kiba thought angrily, seeing the dot disappear off the rooftops near the Hokage tower. 'Why couldn't you just stay away? You're not better than me, I'll prove it!'

* * *

><p>Naruto was still berating himself for his previous screw up around team ten. Of all the S-ranked secrets that he could talk about, he goes with the one that he absolutely doesn't want to talk about.<p>

Typical.

He didn't want to say anything about the fox or any of the power that wasn't truly his, simple as that.

Naruto wasn't far from the Hokage tower when he heard the voice in his head speak up again.

**"Coward. Afraid to tell your own friends what you are...who you are."**

'Shut up.' Naruto snapped mentally, thinking he was going crazy. 'I don't know who you are, but you need to shut up if your going to live in my head.'

**"Kit, if I could get out of your body, I already would have." **The voice sighed before it grumbled. **"But as much as I hate to admit, your bastard of a father sealed me in here pretty well."**

Naruto kept the surprise off his face to keep other people from staring at him funny before responding. 'You're the Kyuubi? Your almost... I don't know, civil?'

The Kyuubi let out a laugh and said in a nasty tone **"Hardly, I've just gotten bored in this damned prison. And your life is such a hell because of me, I find it humorous."**

Naruto bristled as he slowed down, coming closer to the Hokage tower. 'I also find that the strongest Bjuu of the nine got his ass kicked by the fourth hokage, and is now his son's slave pretty damn funny, doesn't mean I'll laugh at you.' He spat as a reply.

The Kyuubi let out a menacing growl, and said **"Probably because I will rip you to shreds the moment you fall asleep."**

'Yeah right, you'd kill yourself too, you dumb fur ball.' Naruto shot back challengingly.

The fox gave a dark smile behind his cage. **"Just wait until you go to sleep tonight boy. I'll love talking to you face to face."**

Naruto's blood went cold at that, the chilling tone of voice nearly making Naruto freeze up. He did not like the sound of that, not one bit. While he was confident that the demon couldn't kill him without killing himself, doesn't mean he can't beat the snot out of Naruto for fun.

But still, Naruto still wasn't one to act scared, even when he actually was. 'Bring it Fox, I'm not scared of you.'

He heard the fox snort, and he almost face faulted hearing the fox speak. **"Kit I live inside you. I can say with absolute conviction that you are about to piss your pants. Just remember this though, I can see straight through your façade. I know every little thing about you, every dream, every fear. I witnessed everything you've ever witnessed, heard everything that you've heard. For Kami's sake, every time you stared at Sakura's ass, I had to stare at her ass."**

Naruto had the decency to blush at that. 'In my defense, Sakura has a nice ass.'

The kyuubi ignored him, resisting the urge of roaring something along the lines of 'You are twelve!' or just saying 'Wait a few years.' and said in a haughty tone **"I know that you will fail and you will beg me for me to give you some of my power. Again."**

Now Naruto flinched. He remembered the power he relied on during Wave, remembering the horrid feeling he had from it. 'We'll see, fox. We'll see.'

He stopped at the entrance of the Hokage tower, and looked up at the hokage mountain behind it, mainly the Fourth Hokage's face. Naruto felt the stone eyes look down at him, judging him. He didn't know if he loved or hated the man now that he thought about it. Sure, he was his dad and he did bring him into this world, but he's the one that trapped the fox inside him. He's the one that cursed his very existence for the sake of the village.

He sacrificed his kin for this village. He sacrificed _Naruto _for this village.

But still, he wanted to be what the fourth was. He wanted the respect, the prestige. Then no one would be able to ignore him ever again.

'Someday, I will become Hokage, and I will make you and mom proud of what I accomplished. I'll become the greatest shinobi this village has ever seen, surpassing everyone... even you.' He pledged, meeting the stony eyes unflinching. 'Just watch...'

He looked away, walking straight into the Hokage's tower and ignoring the secretary yelling at him he had to have an appointment.

He stopped in front of the Hokage's office, finding the door shut. He knocked once, hearing the familiar but muffled voice of the Third Hokage.

"I'm busy, come back later!"

"To busy to talk to your future successor? Even when he's been missing for two months?" Naruto answered with a bit of sarcasm.

The door flung open, and Naruto saw the third Hokage going through a large stack of papers with a raised eyebrow towards the door, but he firstly saw a silver-haired Jonnin that wore a mask over the bottom of his face.

"Hey sensei." Naruto smiled. "How's the road of life been treating you?"

Kakashi was about to retort, when he saw Naruto's eye. '...I almost cost you that...'

He didn't say that out loud, he was decent enough to have a different line of conversation than that. "You've grown Naruto...your still short, but not mockingly so." Kakashi said.

"Gee, thanks." Naruto answered, a little miffed at the reminder that he was still the shortest in his class. "Here I was, all proud of myself for eating my fruits and veggies to grow big and strong, and I still get bullied. Thanks sensei."

The third Hokage removed his pipe from his mouth, blowing smoke into the air. He knew that Naruto was still alive, Itachi having informed him within the week Naruto went missing. "Well Kakashi, It would seem that the council can finally rest their case for a new member for your team."

Naruto sweatdropped, his eye twitching. "They actually tried to replace me?" he asked, not surprised just annoyed.

Kakashi nodded. "They did, but I told them all I wouldn't accept another student, so then they pushed to remove me as Sasuke's sensei, and when Sasuke heard about the entire situation from me, he asked when the next meeting was and told them all that if they tried to do anything to screw his team or his sensei, he would burn their houses to the ground."

"Did I hear that correctly? Sasuke _wanted _to keep the spot open?" Naruto asked incredulously.

Kakashi gave an eyesmile at his blond student. "Sasuke felt guilty, because even though he risked his life to save you, and originally succeeded, he failed to stop you from falling to your presumed demise on the bridge. You were the closest person Sasuke had to a friend, and he never admitted it, but... he missed you." he explained. "That, and I think he didn't believe you were dead."

Naruto remembered his other teammate, and asked about her well being. "Well, what about Sakura? What has she done in the last two months?"

"Medical Ninjutsu, since I don't have much to teach her. So far, I've been kept in the dark on her progress." Kakashi sighed, not liking being kept out of the loop with his own team. "Don't get me wrong, I'm sure she's improved a lot since the bridge, but until I see what she can do, I can only hope that you've improved, because otherwise Sasuke'll have to wait until at least another six months before he can try the exams."

"Yeah, about that..." Naruto cleared his throat. "Jii-san, you got a privacy seal on the door or something? Because what I'm about to say might not be for other people... or my classmates to hear."

Hiruzen looked perplexed for a moment, but he had Kakashi close the door and seal the room for privacy.

Naruto took a deep breath before he spoke. "I found out who both my parents are. I know who I am."

* * *

><p>Uchiha Itachi was at the border to the Land of Rivers, resting off the side of the road and staring up to the side of the road.<p>

'The Akatsuki still pose a serious problem.' he sighed and laid on his back, his hands resting behind his head. 'I can't kill them all, almost all of them are nearly as strong or stronger than me, and some like Hidan are neigh impossible to kill. And now I not only have to deal with them, but protect Naruto as well as Sasuke from Orochimaru and his new village.'

Itachi didn't have any idea what Orochimaru's end game was right now. He could've killed Naruto, nothing would've stopped him. He could've also placed the curse mark on him for either the fox or for Naruto's eyes, but he didn't.

He let Naruto go and left without a trace.

And according to Kisame, it was strictly business between them and Naruto, Itachi was only in the way... but what did any of that accomplish for either of them? If they wanted to see what Naruto could do, why not wait until the chunin exams, when he has to openly display it for advancement.

'Maybe they were being impatient... or maybe it wasn't a planned encounter.' Scratch that first one, Itachi had been with them for years. Whoever was leading the organization was by far the most patient man Itachi had come across, or at the very least one of the most calculated. But the second was a possibility.

'You help us, we help you.' Kisame told him that was the relationship with Orochimaru the Akatsuki had. And Orochimaru, while a calculative man, was not very patient. When he wanted something, he made great haste to try and take it.

Did that mean Orochimaru wanted to take Naruto's body for his own?

'...No. It can't.' Itachi decided. 'The sharingan would make him interested, but the fox would prevent him from taking Naruto's body, so it has to be something else.'

The only question was, what the hell else could it have been that Orochimaru wanted?

Itachi's eyes flickered behind him, hearing the bushes behind him rustle. "So, you finally showed up Jiraiya?"

The toad sage walked past Itachi and leaned against a nearby tree, a scowl on his face. "So, Itachi, can you elaborate what your cryptic message said for me? The one about tying up loose ends and making peace with yourself."

"I am going to take out the Akatsuki." Itachi said bluntly. "And since I will be dead by the end of the week, you are the one that will likely be training Naruto. Sasuke will be fine on his own, with clan scrolls and Kakashi being sufficient teachers."

"I can help you fight the Akatsuki." Jiraiya said, his tone serious.

"No. If anyone is going to die for me, it will just be me." Itachi said, sitting up. "I need you to understand something, we don't know about Naruto's sharingan. Whether it has a mangekyō or a form similar is unknown. I don't understand why his eyes are so much different than the rest, even his mother possessed normal sharingan eyes."

"Maybe it's the effect of mixing the Namikaze and the Uchiha lines." Jiraiya replied.

"That's what I thought." Itachi rubbed his eyes tiredly. "But he refuses to use them."

"That... might not be the best idea." Jiraiya muttered. "Did you try to force him to?"

"I did. And instead, it brought out the nine tails." Itachi answered. "The seal is weakening faster than we thought. By the time he's eighteen, it might have faded away completely and all that will hold the Kyuubi back is Naruto's will."

"What's it like? Is his transformation anything like Kushina's?" Jiraiya asked.

"No, it was more like Uzumaki Mito's." Itachi said, getting up to his feet. "His blood may be of the Uchiha and Namikaze descent, but his reserves..."

"Aren't." Jiraiya nodded. "It's complicated and even I don't know the full details."

"Just... train him well. Don't let my clan die out... not the way it is now." Itachi said, his gaze going to the sky.

"I am the best teacher Konoha has produced, remember? I taught the Yondaime." Jiraiya joked. He didn't really get that, he managed to teach the fourth hokage, but still the third was a better teacher in his opinion. He made three people that became elite, whereas Jiraiya only had Minato to show.

"Naruto will be better than the Yondaime." Itachi said seriously. "A hard worker beats a genius every time, and there is not a soul on this earth that will work harder than Naruto. Ever."

It was high praise from Itachi. To say such a thing for a thirteen year old, it was almost as if he was saying that Naruto would bring peace to the world and become the hero of the planet, since the fourth was the closest anyone ever came to claiming it.

Itachi cleared his throat and said "You were successful in infiltrating Otogakure?"

"A couple weeks ago. There's a lot's of swordsmen, and lots of curse marks." Jiraiya said, not commenting on the change of topic to more business like. "However, it's not exactly a bad place. The kids with curse marks are well fed, clothed, and everyone has a roof over their head. People like it there, and it's almost like Orochimaru is trying to help his people there instead of just himself."

"You managed to get in and out of Otogakure unseen a month ago and have been peeping for a month straight-"

"It's called research!" Jiraiya shouted indigently. However, he didn't deny it.

"...Since you've been doing _research" _Itachi put up finger quotations on the word. "for the last month, I think that it is high time that you go to Konoha and pick up where I left off with Naruto."

"Kakashi's handling him though." Jiraiya said with a frown. He couldn't just up and take Hatake's student from him again, that would be screwed up. "Besides, I am supposed to begin in December with him anyway, between the second and third stage of the exams."

Jiraiya spoke as if he already knew Naruto was going to make it to that point, which did not surprise Itachi. After all, the Uchiha expected him to make it all the way to the finals as well.

"I am worried about Orochimaru." Itachi admitted. "No matter how busy he seems to be with his village, he made time to come and attack Naruto. He could've killed him at any point in their encounter, yet Orochimaru chose to play around with him, and even went as far as letting Naruto dictate the terms of the battle. He's planning something."

"Of course he's planning something." Jiraiya snorted. "I've been keeping watch of Oto though, and I'll tell you something. He isn't working alone."

Itachi raised an eyebrow at that. Orochimaru always seemed to be more of a solitary man, even while on team missions. Who would he possibly work with, and what would he possibly gain?

"Someone _else _is working with him?" Itachi asked the most obvious question though, it was the first to come to mind. "The Akatsuki aren't enough?"

"Someone powerful." Jiraiya nodded gravely. "As if we had enough to worry about, huh?"

Itachi shook his head and muttered "Not to mention Suna's aggression seeming to rise."

"Yep."

"So essentially," Itachi pondered how to word the next statement elegantly. "It's a giant clusterfuck and we're trapped right in the middle."

Well, he tried.

"Otoakure is straight to the north, to the left of Kumo. Rain is the border between Suna, Iwa, and us, with Suna is directly to our left and Iwa above it. Oh, and then Kiri is over on their islands having a civil war." Jiraiya relented a sigh. It was ridiculous how quickly the tensions were rising. "Even Kumo and Iwa are having their differences, I wouldn't be surprised if a war was brewing between those two... on top of your condition. How much longer are you expected to hold up?"

Itachi gave a worn smile. "I was supposed to drop dead last year."

That was why he was never willing to take the mantle of clan heir, even while the clan was still around. He was supposed to die by the time he was 17, the longest he could hope for was 25 years old.

Not a long life, but hopefully a fulfilling one.

"Yeah..." Jiraiya gave a sad smile. "life sucks doesn't it?"

* * *

><p>It took almost two hours, but Naruto explained everything to both his sensei and his leader. In that time, he managed to find himself seated in a chair, along with the silver haired jonin that was also present.<p>

Kakashi was surprised when he found out that Naruto was apart of the Uchiha clan. Even more surprising though, was finding out his student not only the son of his own teacher, but was the nephew of his old teammate as well. Then on top of this, he discovered Itachi was the one who was teaching Naruto and almost had a had a heart attack.

"You were trained by _him_? He interrupted, standing up. "Are you serious? That man murdered his entire family, why didn't you run away!"

Naruto rubbed his neck, not meeting Kakashi's eyes. "I wanted to get stronger." He said truthfully. "I wanted to know who I was, and he seemed to be the only person that knew that. Besides, he isn't a bad person... he's just done a lot of bad things."

Kakashi almost whacked Naruto for that, because that was utterly asinine. "Naruto, he killed his entire clan except for Sasuke-"

"And apparently me." Naruto interjected helpfully.

"-In a singular fashion without hesitation. He's a bad person, and there's not a damn thing that will change that." Kakashi finished plainly, looking at Hiruzen for support.

Instead, he was given the exact opposite.

"Kakashi... what I am about to tell the two of you does not leave this room." The third began, packing tobacco into his pipe. "Uchiha Itachi... he has always been loyal to the Leaf Village. He was our informant inside the Akatsuki until he found Naruto, and on the night of the massacre... he was under orders."

You could have heard a pin drop. Naruto because while he knew Itachi was a good person at heart, he honestly didn't know what to make of him being ordered to kill his family. Being an orphan, Naruto couldn't even imagine the pain he went through going through with it either.

But he also didn't understand why Itachi was ordered to do it.

"I don't understand..." Naruto murmured.

Kakashi stared at the hokage and asked the sole question on his mind. "Was it Danzo?"

Hiruzen gave a sigh at Kakashi's question and closed his eyes. "No..." He said looking up at the ceiling, clenching his fist on the arm rest. "It wasn't just Danzo. "He was under my orders as well."

Kakashi's jaw dropped under his mask. What in the world would make Hiruzen Saratobi, the Third Hokage and one of the kindest men he had ever come across, order an entire family to be massacred by one of their own?

"The Uchiha clan," Hiruzen cleared his throat before continuing. "was plotting a coup d'état. Itachi was sent to stop it by any means necessary. However, in doing this, he became a missing nin."

Naruto clenched his teeth, seething "But he did it for the village! He gave everything for this place and that's how you treat him?"

"Naruto-kun, he murdered his entire family." Hiruzen explained. "Yes, it was for our village, but no one knew of the coup. Itachi was willing to take the punishment under the condition that no one aside from myself, the advisors, and Danzo know the truth. The fact that I've told you two is breaking that oath."

Naruto was left to ponder that. Itachi was a missing nin because he loved his village more than his family. He loved the village more than everyone aside from his little brother... and this is how the village treats him? He gave his own family to keep the village safe, and his payment was being forced to cut his bonds with it.

"So then why tell us in the first place?" Kakashi asked, speaking on the broken oath.

Hiruzen smiled softly. "You two had the right to know, being a student under him for a period of time and you taking over the reigns from Itachi. However, Itachi told me you battled Orochimaru a little over a week ago, Naruto." Now, he was eager to change the subject.

Naruto mellowed out at that. He would talk about his anger later, and he spoke on what the Hokage wanted to. "Oh, yeah. He kicked my ass."

"You got in a fight with Orochimaru?" Kakashi gave a deadpan stare to Naruto and asked "How many kicks to the head have you suffered in your life Naruto?"

"Itachi informed me that you faired relatively well for someone your age, actually landing multiple attacks." Hiruzen said with a proud smile.

Kakashi's eye went as wide as a saucer. "The sheer fact that you survived is impressive Naruto... but to say you actually landed a blow is prodigy level for your age."

"Yeah, but still... He wasn't trying, at all. Even at the end of it, he said he wasn't even going over a fifth!" Naruto grumbled. "Even when I unlocked my eyes, he didn't break a sweat!"

Hiruzen blinked as he played that last part in his head again. "...Naruto, you never said anything about unlocking your eyes." He said slowly.

"Oh...uh..." Naruto rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, before muttering "oops."

"Could you show us?" Kakashi asked, albeit sounding a little more excited than normal. It wasn't often to see those eyes anymore, aside from himself and Sasuke.

Naruto felt uncomfortable on this subject, mostly due to fear that they would see him as a freak. "...I'd rather not, if I could." Naruto muttered. "There not exactly something I can use anyway, being in a village that would think I was playing a sick joke and all, and being a walking reminder of the Fox..." Naruto cleared his throat. "I'd just rather never use them."

"...It's alright Naruto. I understand, but do know this." Kakashi looked serious as he continued. "You can't keep a secret like that from people forever. Eventually, we're all going to see them, and we will all know who you are."

Naruto scratched the back of his neck and said jokingly"I know. Hopefully, my fourth whisker can distract people from my eyes long enough so that I don't have to use my eyes."

Kakashi smirked, and said "Maybe so Naruto, maybe so."

"Kakashi," Hiruzen finally finished his stack of papers and could now fully re-enter the conversation. "We still need to see what he can do, and how much his absence has affected his ability to work with his team. So, I want you to test him later this evening one on one, and tomorrow, I want you to give his team the bell test once more."

"Yes, Hokage-sama." Kakashi answered, before returning to look at Naruto. "Training ground seven at three o'clock alright with you, Naruto?"

"Sure thing, sensei!" Naruto agreed, standing up. "I can't wait to kick you butt!"

"A little overconfident, aren't we?" Kakashi asked, raising a brow.

"Nope!" Naruto beamed a smile, before saying "Well, I do have other people to go see, and I don't want to keep you guys busy, so see ya!"

Naruto sprinted down the hall, intent on going to finish his reunions with the rest of his close friends.

* * *

><p>Training ground ten was always full of activity. It was usually in the form of singular training or sparring, but none the less, the training ground was constantly full of activity.<p>

Today was no different, with Team Ten all actively training under Maito Gai's instruction. Tenten was throwing shuriken at a bullseye painted onto a tree, while her two teammates Lee and Neji engaged in a spar with Gai being the referee.

Tenten was a young woman who had a tomboyish demeanor, though she still retained many aspects of the average female. She was tough, and was one of the top Kunoichi of her year, hence why she was paired with the top student and the bottom student as is custom. She wears her brown hair in Chinese-style buns on either side of her head with short fringe-bangs falling over her forehead protector which she wears in the traditional manner. She wore a sleeveless pink blouse with red sleeve trimmings and yellow fastening buttons as well as dark green pants, a pouch adjusted to her thigh, and standard blue ninja sandals.

Rock Lee was an athletic and extremely enthusiastic boy of thirteen years old, the dead last of their generation. Of course, being the only team that managed to last in the shinobi world, no one aside from his teammate Neji would call him such any more. He looked almost like a replica of his sensei, having a bowl cut and extremely bushy eyebrows. He wore strikingly similar outfit as his sensei as well, consisting of a green jumpsuit, orange leg warmers, and a red forehead protector worn as a belt. Beneath the leg warmers were extremely heavy weights, and bandages were applied over his hands, covering the cuts he was given from the rigorous training he was undertaking.

Hyūga Neji was extremely serious and mature for his age, and had great control of his emotions, unlike his counter part he was facing. Being a member of the elite Hyūga clan, he was born with the Byakugan, a Dōjutsu belonging solely to them. He was slightly cold and arrogant, and believed that fate was already predetermined. He wore a black forehead protector that was snugly over his forehead, while his hair was tied back in a pony tail at the end. He wore a khaki shirt, under which he wore a dull blue shirt with a mesh armor underneath it, dark brown shorts, blue shinobi sandals. He also had bandages wrapped around his right arm, chest, and right leg.

In all, they were a front line team in training. They were the only team that passed their graduation test however, making them the only team from their year.

None of them seemed to mind that.

Maito Gai was the jonin sensei of team ten, a job he was proud of having. He often heard himself described by others as 'unique' or 'eccentric' neither of which he disputed. He often spoke of the power of Youth, which nearly everyone in Konoha didn't even know what it meant. He is a tall and well-built man with high cheek-bones, thick eyebrows and black hair cut in a bowl style. He wears a green jumpsuit, orange striped leg warmers and the standard Konoha flak jacket though it's normally unzipped. His forehead protector is on a red cloth and is worn around his waist, like a belt.

"Begin!" Gai's voice rang out between the two genin.

"YOSH!" Upon Gai's order, Lee took off to begin the taijutsu only spar. He wasted no time for warming up before he started rapidly threw punches at Neji's face, though the former rookie of the year dodged every strike with complete ease.

'Tch... why doesn't Lee ever stop trying?' Neji thought with a stoic face, his head continuously moving side to side to avoid getting hit. After a minute of this, Neji grew bored and decided to start his own offense.

He grabbed Lee's extended wrist, not letting the other boy do anything before the Hyūga prodigy jabbed him in the ribs with the back of an open fist.

Relatively, it was a light blow, not intending to end the fight but to just leave a mark and sting a bit. However, Lee involuntarily hunched over in reaction, which let Neji land a strong and well placed kick right to his temple as a follow up.

Gai nearly cringed as he watched his favorite pupil's head snap backwards, but he knew Lee was tough enough to take it. He couldn't cover the proud smile on his face when Lee used the momentum to spin around and kick Neji in the chest, knocking the prodigy backwards.

But for all of Lee's improvement over the last year under Gai's teachings, Neji was still well above him in terms of skill. The margin was growing smaller by the day, but Neji was stronger regardless.

Neji flipped back up to his feet, a scowl on his face. His thoughts were fixated on the fight at hand, though he never lost his cool and forgot the rules of strict Taijutsu only. That might not have strictly prevented him from activating his eyes, but he was too prideful to even activate them against someone he thought was so far beneath him.

Neji braced himself as Lee charged forward again, aiming a fist towards his jaw. He blocked it, his scowl deepening on his face while he elbowed Lee in the cheek.

Lee's head was forcibly turned to the side, and he received a quick knee into the stomach.

The boy in green tried to fight back with a punch aimed for Neji's face, but Neji simply swatted the punch aside with his left arm and slugged Lee in the mouth with his right.

Lee fell onto his back, before he pushed himself upwards with his hands into the air and tried to kick Neji in the chest.

Instead, the Hyūga caught Lee's foot with both hands, and threw him over his head.

Lee landed in a thud on the ground, rolling across the grass before he managed to stop himself and land on his feet.

Gai merely closed his eyes, seeing that Lee was charging in yet again. The tactic simply wouldn't work on Neji and Lee refused to see it.

"You will always be weak Lee." Neji said coldly, punching Lee across the face and sending him sprawling across the ground. He expected the spar to be over, and let his guard fall.

As a result, Lee was able to get the drop on him, planting both feet directly into Neji's sternum.

The attack stunned him, knocking Neji backwards but not off of his feet. He narrowed his eyes before resuming his stance, watching Lee sprint at him just like all the times before.

However, this time instead of letting Lee try and fail to pummel him with a flurry of fists, Neji blocked the first punch before catching the second. Lee tried to pull his hand away, but Neji had the other boy's forearm in an iron clad grip to prevent him from moving. The Hyūga prodigy swept Lee's feet right out of under him, knocking him to the ground.

Before Lee could get up, Neji held his fist up to his face, ending the brief spar.

"As I said." Neji said coolly, holding his fist in place. "You will always be weak Lee. Nothing you can do will change that." The Hyūga lowered his fist and began to walk off, not noticing the disapproving look Gai was giving him, or the slight sneer Tenten had on her face.

Lee had yet to get to his feet, though he only suffered minor bruising.

"Lee... he doesn't mean it." Gai tried to encourage his student, but he failed to do so. While physically Lee was alright, Neji's words stung more than any punch he could have thrown. Lee was used to the putdowns and snide remarks by now, but that did nothing to make them hurt less after time and time again he tried to get the other boy to call him his equal, and each time ending in failure.

Lee got up to his feet slowly, an unusual dark look on his face as he acknowledged another defeat at Neji's hands. He wasn't going to stop though, he couldn't. His entire goal in life anymore wasn't to become the best, it wasn't to be considered an elite.

His goal was to force Neji to acknowledge that Lee was as skilled as him.

And he'd be damned if he didn't make that happened.

* * *

><p>Neji had exited team Ten's training grounds, heading back to the Hyūga clan compound. Gai had no problems with him doing this, knowing Neji didn't really have a choice in the matter.<p>

Despite being closest to Lee, Gai insisted on being there for all his students, seeing them almost like his own children. He would try to help them all through their problems, and he would understand their suffering.

Of course, out of the three, he also knew Neji was the one with the worst set of problems. It was why he said nothing to the prodigy whenever Neji acted like an overall ass towards his teammates like he had done not five minutes ago.

A great example of Neji's problems would be a few moments after arriving at the clan compound.

After mere seconds of entering the premises, a horrible burning sensation filled his very being. Neji let out a scream of agony, clutching his head and falling down to his knees. A few moments after the pain began, it subsided, amiss the laughter of a main house member.

The branch member lifted his head and glared at the laughing Hyūga, noting that he was a failing member of his year, and one of the dozens upon dozens of main house members that loved to torment the side branch.

The boy noticed Neji's heated glare, and mockingly asked "Who do you think you're glaring at, scum?"

Neji screamed again, the searing pain in his head returning again. Neji withered on the ground, screaming in pain.

Through his blurry vision, he saw the boy strutting towards him. "Aww... is wittle Neji gonna cry for daddy?" The boy taunted down at him, letting the seal deactivate before he kicked the downed prodigy in the stomach. "Wait... your daddy's dead! How could I forget?" He kicked Neji again, making Neji spit blood. "You're still no better than a slave, no matter how good you think you are!"

Neji lifted his head, blood trailing down the left side of his mouth. He wanted to do _something _to the smirking boy in front of him, but he couldn't. Not with the death warrant already placed on his forehead.

The kid's smirk fell. "Did I tell you to get up?" He snarled, slapping Neji in the mouth. "I should kill you for your disobedience."

"ENOUGH!" A voice roared behind them, and all activity around them ceased.

Neji lifted his eyes again, and nearly let out a curse. Because meeting his Byakugan eyes was the face of his uncle and current clan head of the Hyūga family, Hyūga Hiashi.

Hiashi looked down at his nephew for a moment, before he turned his head and glared icily at the main house member. His fists were clenched so tight that they wouldn't stop shaking. "If you value your life, you will leave at once. Should I ever come across your face again, I'll kill you myself. Do I make myself clear, _boy_?"

The boy nodded quickly, mumbling "Hai Hiashi-sama." before fleeing, out of Hiashi's sight in moments.

Hisashi's glare lingered for a few moments on the spot the kid disappeared, and turned and looked back at his nephew. Neji was looking up at him in contempt, blood still trailing down the side of his mouth.

Never the less, Hiashi still extended his hand to help Neji back to his feet. He wasn't surprised when Neji slapped his hand away and slowly got up to his feet on his own, walking back to his quarters and slamming the door shut.

Hiashi closed his eyes dejectedly. He knew his brother was rolling around in his grave at how his son was being treated, but in truth there was nothing he could do. His hands were tied, not just by the laws but by other matters concerning his own children.

'Pathetic.' Hiashi thought to himself in disgust, trudging back to the main house. 'I can't save my daughter, and I can't save my nephew... what kind of clan head am I?'

He didn't fail to hear the sound of breaking objects in Neji's quarters either.

* * *

><p>Naruto stopped in front of a door to a familiar classroom. Class for the day was currently on break and would be for another hour, so he knew that he wasn't going to be interrupting anything. He knocked once before entering the familiar classroom.<p>

A scared Chunin was seated behind his desk grading tests when he heard the door click open, and he looked up to see his visitor. To his utter surprise, he was greeted by a boy that was considered dead by many in the village.

A grin slowly spread across his face, and the chunin asked "Naruto! Is that really you...?" his voice trailed off upon seeing the scar running across Naruto's face.

Naruto noticed that Iruka was looking at the mark under his eye. "Hey Iruka-sensei! Did ya miss me?" he asked with a grin, before pointing his thumb up at his eye. "What do you think of my fourth whisker?"

"...I don't know how to respond to it." Iruka answered. He knew what to think of it, he just didn't want to say it allowed. 'It looks like it was pretty painful to get it.'

He should know, he still had that scar on his face from Tora... damn crazy demon cat.

Naruto shrugged happily and said "Not many people do. How's things going with Konohamaru and the bunch?"

Iruka looked back down to his test, finding he was on Konohamaru of all people. Slightly ironic, and easy to grade. 'another 0 Konohamaru... seeing Naruto again better help him improve.'

Outwardly, he said "They haven't been trying as hard as they were before you left, Konohamaru especially. Your... presumed death took a toll on him." Iruka answered somberly to the blond gennin, before cracking a smile and saying "He missed his rival."

Naruto smiled lightly but waved him off, and said "I'll try to pay him a visit in a few days, I have to get reacquainted with my team over the next two days, starting with a spar against Kakashi-sensei this afternoon." Naruto said.

"Good luck with that Naruto, you'll need it."

Naruto took a look of mock offense, and said indigently "Are you kidding? I'm gonna kick Kakashi-sensei's ass!"

Iruka shook his head, not surprised by Naruto's proclamation. The kid always tried to act like he radiated confidence even when he had none.

"Anyhow, what has everyone else been up to in Konoha?" Naruto asked, wanting to hear from someone else about the works of the world.

"Sakura Haruno came by a couple months ago, wanting to get books on genjutsu and medical ninja skills. I pointed her in the direction of Kuranai, Team eight's sensei. Speaking of that trio, they won rookie team of the year last week." Iruka said, though that wasn't the only thought on his mind. 'Mostly thanks to Hinata... the girl turned cold when you left Naruto.'

"I heard about Sakura trying to become a medic, but the genjutsu thing is surprising..." Naruto said, before he grew a thoughtful look on his face. "It's almost... quaint, isn't it? We're almost an exact replica of the Sannin."

"What do you mean?" Iruka asked, adding in "And where did you learn the word quaint?"

Naruto chose to ignore the subtle jab Iruka jokingly shot at him and explained "The prodigy, never quite trying to be friendly with his team, but still letting them grow on him. The Medic, the one to heal any injuries that the other two sustain. And the jokester, the one who took things seriously too late. I think our team fills out that role almost perfectly now, doesn't it?"

Iruka blinked at the analogy, but found that at this point, the similarities between the two were numerous. "I guess so Naruto." he nodded, before smiling again. "Though I didn't know you paid attention to history class. You sort of failed every history test I ever gave you."

Naruto grinned cheekily and gave a thumbs up. "Meh, gotta know who I'm trying to outdo."

The blond boy looked up at the clock and saw that it was almost noon. "Its late, and you look like your having loads of fun grading a stack of papers so I'm going to go head home, hopefully they haven't already rented it out or something. Later sensei!"

Naruto jogged out the door, before going into a full-fledged sprint down the hall. He failed to notice that his 'jogging' threw paper off of Iruka's desk.

"...You never cease to amaze, do you Naruto?"

* * *

><p>Sasuke was taking a break from training, deciding to go on a walk through the village. He hadn't actually been out and about in the village in some time, except on horrible D-ranked missions and the like, so this was almost a breath of fresh air for him.<p>

It would've been anyway, if people weren't giving him the usual stares. Some were of envy, others of pity, but all of respect he felt he didn't even deserve. He had done absolutely nothing worth mentioning to date, so the worship got old _really fast._

Mind you, he had grown accustomed to the respect people gave him. He grew up with it.

He didn't know where he was going, just letting his feet take him wherever they wanted to go. Whether it was the park or the memorial stone or even visiting his parent's graves, he usually went to a place where he thought he would be alone, and in a place that had his family history in it.

But not this day. No, on this day he cared nothing for his family history and found himself looking over Training ground seven. He could see the river flowing in the back, with the field of freshly cut grass near the front as well as the rest of the large forest of trees next to it. He saw the three old stumps that Kakashi used when all three members of team seven were rookies.

The only other time Naruto and he had a chance to fight side by side other than the newly named 'Naruto Bridge' in wave.

Thinking back on that horrible day, Sasuke always wondered just what power Naruto had used when he fought off those bandits. He wouldn't complain, Naruto managed to take out _a lot _of people, even more than he did with the help of Kakashi.

But the chakra felt like poison going into Sasuke's lungs, and he wasn't even near Naruto half of the fight.

Then of course, the feeling went away after Naruto fell off the bridge.

Sasuke stared at the middle stump, which was Naruto's. His fist clenched, to the point his knuckles turned white. 'Dumb dobe... what the hell were you thinking?' He thought sorrowfully.

He must've lost himself in his thoughts too, because when he finally looked away, the sun had lowered considerably, looking as if an hour had passed.

Sasuke stuffed his hands in his pockets, before walking away, intent on going home.

Problem is, he didn't get too far before running into his pinkette of a teammate.

'Don't see me, don't see me, don't see me... son of a-'

Sakura saw him and said excitedly "Oh, Sasuke-kun!"

"Hey Sakura." Sasuke greeted in a monotone voice. Over the last few months, the girl had grown a little on him, he'll admit, but she just annoyed him sometimes, never giving him alone time except when he was in the Uchiha compound. 'Man, this used to be Dobe's job. Keep her occupied while everyone else enjoyed the peace.' He thought sourly, his depressed mood still lingering in his mind.

Sakura kicked the dirt on the road. "So... how was your day?"

"It was... alright I guess." Sasuke answered after a moment of thought. "How was yours?"

Sakura shrugged and replied "It was boring as can be. Anyway, did you hear those rumors?"

'Here we go.' Sasuke wailed in his mind. Outwardly though, he asked "What rumors?"

"About Naruto!" Sakura's voice grew loud at that. "You didn't hear, people keep seeing a boy with deep blue eyes, blond hair, and whisker marks on his face running as fast as a blur around the village!"

"...Probably was a prank by some dick from last year's graduating class." Sasuke said, shrugging. "Wouldn't be the first time they did that... or the second."

Sakura waved that off and said "I know, but this time Choji, Ino, and Shikamaru talked to him! They're the ones that told me, even their sensei agreed with them!"

Sasuke was now a little curious about it, but didn't comment. Odds were they would see the blond tomorrow when they saw Kakashi. And that was if Naruto was actually back.

"Do you think he's improved that much?" Sakura asked him. "Maybe gotten a little faster and stronger, I understand that, but as fast as a blur? That's insane!"

"You saw how different it is outside our walls Sakura." Sasuke said, nodding over to the gate at the front of the village. "We were only out there for two weeks and we had Kakashi and each other watching our backs. And even without us, how well do you think Kakashi would've lasted in that Water prison jutsu?"

Sakura thought about that, and saw just how badly that could have ended for their sensei had the three of them not been there.

"Even if he had someone like Kakashi watching his back, everywhere you went you would be attacked, and you would have to grow stronger to survive. If he's as fast as a blur, it could be a good thing for us, if he isn't but is still much better than he was, that's another good thing, it doesn't matter. As long as he doesn't drag us down, we're going to be fine."

'And as long as dobe hasn't gotten _that _much better.' Sasuke added in his head.

* * *

><p>Naruto saw the retreating forms of his teammates leaving the training ground, and felt multiple emotions. The first to hit him was happiness, but at nearly the same time, he felt his gut churning. They nearly got him killed on that bridge, or at least Sakura did.<p>

The least she could've done was try to fight with him.

He shook his head at that thought and jumped down from the rooftops near the training ground into the field. He took a few steps before he sat atop the middle stump and awaited his sensei, thinking the man was going to be late like he usually was.

And late he was, but not annoyingly so. A mere ten minutes after the scheduled time, Kkakashi popped into existence in front of the Jinchuriki.

"I'd say you were late, but you usually suck at timing." Naruto said, idly. Naruto got up off the stump and continued speaking "I should consider you early, sensei."

"...What can I say, Naruto?" Kakashi shrugged. "I'm excited to see what Itachi taught you." However, what the hokage said after Naruto left repeated in his head.

_Flashback_

_Naruto sprinted down the hall, intent on going to finish his reunions with the rest of his close friends, leaving Kakashi and Hiruzen in the office._

_"...Well, as for our previous discussion, We'll save it for later." Hiruzen said, leaning back. "However, in the meantime, I want you to truly test Naruto today Kakashi. Don't be lazy, study every move he will use, see if he can still fit into your unit."_

_"I intend to Hokage-sama." Kakashi nodded._

_"No Kakashi, I don't think you do." Hiruzen said, though not insulting the copy ninja. "I don't want to know what Naruto can do on his own strictly speaking. I want you to try to force Naruto to use his eyes."_

_Kakashi was silent, nodding slowly. He knew the hokage's reasoning, he shared the same view on it. But still, forcing someone to do something they didn't want to, no matter what it was, just seemed wrong._

_"He needs to use them. Locking away apart of yourself is not something he can do without suffering the side effects." Hiruzen told him anyway_

_"But Hokage-sama-"_

_"Kakashi," the Third Hokage looked at him. "I don't feel comfortable about this either, but this test is to see _exactly _what he can do. I need to know what his eyes can do, and how the differentiate from Sasuke's and your own. Who knows, maybe our Uchiha heir will accept Naruto, and the two will be an even better team than before."_

_"Or it will make Sasuke grow even more distant." Kakashi interjected mirthlessly. He was making slow progress with Sasuke, but considering how the boy was before the teams were sorted it was a drastic difference. "Besides, Naruto might rather suffer a beating than unveil them." Kakashi said. "You saw the way he hesitated. He's afraid to even show us, and we're the ones he should trust most! Imagine how terrified he must be to show someone like Sasuke, who might kill him thinking its a sick prank!"_

_"Kakashi, I'm sorry but this isn't up for debate." Hiruzen muttered. "This must be done. The world needs to know who he is, or at the very least I do. Try to force him to use them, and we'll go from there."_

_Kakashi grit his teeth but nodded. "Hai Hokage-sama... I'll see to it."_

_flashback over_

Kakashi gave a sigh before watching Naruto get up into a fighting stance. It was one similar to the Uchiha clan style, yet it also resembled the one Gai had taught and used on a regular basis. There was a third style that seemed to be mixed in, though Kakashi couldn't recall the name off the top of his head.

"Did Itachi teach you multiple styles Naruto?"

"Not entirely," Naruto grinned, seeing how easily Kakashi saw it. "He just mixed multiple styles to make mine impossible to copy or predict. Said that the most unpredictable ninja in the world needs to have the most unpredictable fighting style, you know?"

"Fair enough Naruto." Kakashi said, still in a relaxed position. "Hit me with your best shot."

* * *

><p>"So... we need a new messenger system?"<p>

Orochimaru was lounging in front of his desk, absent-mindedly twirling a shuriken on his right index finger. He was staring impassively at Kisame, who had a dull look on his face as if he was too lazy to hit Orochimaru for the overly obvious comment he just made.

"Out of everything I just said, that was all you got out of it?" Kisame asked with an annoyed glare.

Orochimaru's face broke into a smirk. "Well, it's the truth... but why didn't he just, I don't know, use my messenger hawk?"

Kisame shrugged, the thought never occurred to him. "I don't know, but I ain't complainin'. I got a free week of vacation out of this."

Orochimaru nodded, already aware of this. Kisame could actually prove useful for some of his academy students or current genin. "I am well aware that you are in my village for another week, Kisame. Well aware."

Kisame gave a toothy grin and said "You know, what you've been able to do with this place in mere months has been impressive as hell. You managed to train yourself competent shinobi, even sending a team to the chunin exams this year. But I do have a question."

Orochimaru raised an eyebrow in a 'go on' gesture.

"Where did you get all those people down there in your village?" Kisame asked, curious. It was well known what Orochimaru did to the people in Konohagakure, all the experiments that he performed. That and most of the people in the village were wearing the same pitch-black cloak.

Some of them were building, others were training in the newly built training grounds scattered around the village, and others were learning in the academy to become shinobi. In truth, the foundation of the village was strikingly similar to that of the great five, much more advanced than any of the other smaller nations aside from Ame. Only difference between Ame and Oto was how much more quickly everything came together, and how quickly everything was built.

Instead of nearly a decade for everything to come to fruition, Orochimaru pulled it off in mere months. Contracts were starting to come their way from Iwa and Kiri, especially from cheaper countries that couldn't afford Nations like Kumo or Konoha.

Still, there was much for Orochimaru to do. His quest was far from accomplished, barely even begun. Recently, his partner ran across a unique gene that Orochimaru was eager to test.

When Orochimaru didn't respond to his question, Kisame spoke up again."Where did they learn Kenjutsu? It's a form I've never seen before." The shark ninja heard the sound of clashing blades and started staring at the dozens of people running around and engaging in a sword fight. Their attacks were quick and precise strokes, actively keen on using their free limbs to assist them in combat instead of using their sword two handed like most people.

"It's a clan fighting style of theirs, no one else uses it because no one else has been taught it." Orochimaru explained, still trying to think of an answer for Kisame.

"They're good." Kisame nodded in appreciation. He could respect a fellow swordsman.

Orochimaru nodded dryly. "They're average at best among their clan members, they won't make it past genin." The snake sannin said blankly, leaving Kisame to wonder if he was joking or not.

"Well then..." Kisame muttered, feeling slighted. Some of those kids were better than most other swordsman that Kisame had ever come across, they might actually be able to keep him in a stalemate for hours at a time. He swallowed the bitter pill and said "I'll be off, good day Orochimaru."

Orochimaru knew that he offended Kisame, but it was the truth. All of the members of this clan were extremely skilled swordsman, though that was not their sole expertise.

That and he really didn't want to say who the people were.

The snake sannin got up and walked over to the window of his office, watching the ocean tide push and pull on the beach near the edge of the village, small children running around and playing in the sand. His thoughts trailed back to a much more simple time, back when he was a shinobi of Konoha and why he founded Otogakure.

'I knew I would make a better leader than Minato... if only you would've seen that you foolish fossil.' he thought, his fist tightening. He didn't know why he even still had it, but his eyes glanced to a framed photo of his genin team, with Hiruzen standing in the back, him to the left, Jiraiya to the right, and Tsunade in the middle. They were all smiling, even him.

To bad that picture was taken a long time ago. Back when the world made sense.


	4. Reunions

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Naruto Shippuuden. I only own the plot.

Alright, so I read through my first three chapters, and you know what I noticed? I curse to much. I'll try to tone that down, but being the son of a navy veteran give you the mouth of a sailor.

Also just for future reference, I will be using custom jutsu that I came up with in my head, using as my source.

**Warning: graphic Violence/Gore, Language. **

* * *

><p>November 8, a little past three in the after noon<p>

"Hit me with your best shot." Kakashi stood in a relaxed posture, his eye on a confident looking Naruto. The boy stood in his unique stance, grinning up at the Jonin in front of him.

'He's just as confident in himself as he was before.' Kakashi noted, Then the jinchuriki charged forward, moving like an orange streak across the ground.

Kakashi barely had any time to block Naruto's punch, his eye widening in surprise at the vast improvement of speed. 'This is just ridiculous! he went from slow as a snail to a cheetah!' Kakashi thought, weaving his head to dodge another punch.

Then ducking to avoid a third... and blocking a fourth... and you get the idea.

Kakashi shoved Naruto back with his foot, not surprised when he got back up and rushed him again.

'Still charging in head first though... close combat expert?' It would fill a team need, with Sasuke being a ninjutsu specialist and Sakura being a medic, having someone that got up close and personal would be greatly beneficial. None of them were strategists from what Kakashi had seen however.

Kicking Naruto back again, Kakashi spoke. "You've gotten fast Naruto... you've got more of you're father in you than looks, I'll give you that."

"You think I'm fast?" Naruto asked, a grin slowly creeping up his face. "What if I told you, I'm only at half speed right now sensei."

"...You're bluffing." Kakashi said, narrowing his eye before they zeroed in on the slight bulges on his legs. 'Oh damn, weights? That's... too much like Gai for my tastes.' he thought dryly.

Naruto kept the grin on his face, before he pulled the straps off his weights and held them up. Kakashi eyed them, then when Naruto let them drop, he sprinted with a noticeably quicker burst. As they hit the ground in a loud thud, Naruto struck out with his fist right into Kakashi's face, uterrly catching the copy ninja off guard.

Kakashi shook the blow off and narrowly dodged a second punch, and blocking a third before a person could even blink. The copy ninja tried to jab Naruto in the chin, but Naruto blocked the attack and struck Kakashi in the chest with a well placed kick.

The Jonin felt his back collide with a tree, and he was in a daze. It was obvious, that he completely underestimated Naruto's growth in close combat, believing that Naruto wouldn't have gotten this good for another few years.

Still, when Naruto came at him this time, Kakashi was prepared. Blocking Naruto's attack with his arm, he twisted to elbow Naruto right across the jaw, spinning from the momentum and backhanding Naruto backwards, knocking him off his feet.

Naruto was up quickly though, not giving Kakashi a chance to end it early.

Kakashi braced himself again, thinking Naruto was going to use the same bull rush tactic he had used up to this point.

Instead, he watched Naruto give him a cocky smirk and begin to weave through hand seals rapidly, Kakashi recognizing immediately that he was about to use a wind style element.

'Asuma is going to through a fit about not having Naruto as his student hearing this.' Kakashi thought dryly. That was the rarest affinity in the land of fire, the only place where anyone really had a wind affinity being Suna.

And even then, not many people used it there either.

"Fūton: Daitoppa!"

Kakashi's eye widened again, the attack blasting him backwards but not off his feet. His heels dug through the dirt, scraping across the soil while his arms came up to shield his eyes.

'Okay, maybe not strictly a close combatant.' Kakashi thought inwardly. 'Naruto has already begun learning about chakra natures, and that wasn't a weak attack either... Itachi, whatever method you used, it worked. You've turned Naruto from mediocre to a prodigy in a mere two months. The potential ceiling for him is higher than anyone I've ever met... even Sasuke's potential doesn't seem to reach quite the height of Naruto's right now.'

Lowering his arms, Kakashi expected to see Naruto still standing where he was when he was weaving hand seals.

Instead, Naruto was about to clobber him in the face. Catching the jinchuriki's fist, Kakashi decided he might have to show a tad more effort than he did against Naruto months ago, and fought harder, going as hard as he did against Sasuke day one. He did manage parried every shot that was taken by Naruto, though now he was trying to hit Naruto back, but Naruto just ducked or blocked them just as quickly.

Their spar seemed more like a dance between them now, moving gracefully and calculatedly against each other. Punch met punch, kick met kick... Kakashi unknowing continued to try harder, to the point he was fighting as hard as he would when he sparred against Sasuke.

Yet still, Naruto managed to break through Kakashi's defenses, and thought he landed a solid kick right into his sensei's ribs.

However, at the last moment, Kakashi disappeared in a cloud of smoke, being replaced by a log of wood. Naruto's foot smashed into it, snapping it into two pieces as his foot landed back on the ground. Naruto's eyes narrowed as his head darting around to find Kakashi.

He heard a faint but chillingly familiar piercing sound, the night against Mizuki flashing briefly through his mind before Naruto leaned his head to the side. He watched a shuriken sail right over his shoulder and impale a tree.

Naruto turned around quickly, throwing his own set of shuriken towards a bush, knowing his opponent was there.

Kakashi leapt up onto a low branch in a crouch, Naruto already leaping up at him again. Kakashi caught Naruto's fist and threw the boy to the ground, though Naruto managed to drag Kakashi down with him.

The copy nin managed to land on his feet however, instead of on his back like Naruto.

'His taijutsu style is naturally similar to Sasuke's, being taught by his older brother... what is he doing now?' Kakashi was watching Naruto go through hand seals again, though this time it was a familiar fire jutsu.

"Katon: Gōkakyū no jutsu!" Naruto spat a ball of flame at Kakashi, to which Kakashi again used the body replacement technique to avoid.

Naruto frowned, not knowing where Kakashi went again. "Come on Sensei, I thought this was a spar, not hide and seek!"

'He has two natures.' Kakashi almost smiled. One from both of his parents, wind from his father and fire from his mother. 'He might actually be able to not just compete in the exams, he might be able to win.'

Whist thinking this, Kakashi got behind Naruto and was kicking Naruto in the side of the head, though the attack was physically softened by the copy ninja. He was testing Naruto, not trying to cripple him after all.

Naruto rolled back up to his feet and sprinted right at Kakashi, planting his fist into the man's gut before he could even react. The blow knocked the wind out of the masked copy ninja, but he recovered quickly and grabbed Naruto's arm in a vice grip and trying to put it in an arm bar.

Naruto however, twisted as they fell to the ground and kneed Kakashi in the face, knocking the man off of him. Naruto rolled back up to his feet, noting that this time, Kakashi was the first to his feet.

"I have to admit Naruto," Kakashi began, not winded in the slightest. "you've improved far more than I could've hoped you would. Remind me to thank Itachi if I ever see him again." The copy ninja continued, slipping into his stance. This fight had already extended beyond what Kakashi had ever previously used on Sasuke, and Naruto still fought with the self given handicap of not using his own sharingan.

Naruto grinned, resuming his combat stance. "Trust me sensei," He disappeared in a puff of smoke, much to Kakashi's confusion.

He remained confused until the fist hit him in the mouth.

"I'm just getting started!" Naruto finished, disappearing again.

'Shadow clones? But how? He never weaved a hand seal for it.' Kakashi thought, ducking under the punch this time before striking out with a kick to Naruto's mid section.

However, Naruto took a page out of Kakashi's play book and Kakashi found himself snapping a board clean in half before a kick hit him in the back of the head, making him stumble.

Naruto stood with his arms crossed as he grinned at his sensei "I would definitely say that shunshins are definitely the coolest thing I can do, aside from my elemental jutsu." as Naruto spoke, his smile so full of cheek that Kakashi thought he could smack it. "Well, or this." Naruto then did one seal, and performed his favorite jutsu.

"Tajū Kage Bunshin no jutsu!" Naruto's voice rang out.

Kakashi expected at most a hundred, but the numbers he saw were much more. Easily around a thousand, Naruto and his instant army immediately surrounded him. Some were crouching on the trees in the grounds like vultures watching an animal being slaughtered, but most of them were circling Kakashi on the ground.

'You're not leaving me much choice here Naruto... to think, you're actually forcing me to resort to this in a spar with you already.' The copy nin lifted up his headband to reveal his sharingan eye, and prepare for a fight.

The sharingan changed everything though. Now, Kakashi's movements were ten times faster and precise, seeing what Naruto was going to do the second before he did it. The mass swarmed forward towards Kakashi, who for a moment thought of using the chidori to blow them away, but decided that the small chance of him hitting the real Naruto weren't worth the gain.

So, he just dodged and smacked the army around for a bit, enjoying the change to stretch his legs. He still wasn't really trying, is sharingan eye making him go back to the level he had used against Sasuke. For a while this went on, before Kakashi grew bored resorted to a jutsu he rarely used to blow them all away.

A ball of chakra formed in his hand in an instant, and Kakashi smashed it into the ground. The results were pretty powerful, the shockwave blasting back and dispelling the entire army, leaving the real Naruto to land on his back and groan.

Naruto sat up, rubbing the back of his head. What the world was that just now? It was awesome! "Sensei, what the heck was that?"

Kakashi gave his usual eye smile, and spoke fondly. "That, was the Rasengan Naruto. It's an A-ranked jutsu your father invented... I'll teach you it some time."

"Seriously?" Naruto was ecstatic at that little tidbit of information, Trying to find anything about his father was something of a hassle, with him being a hokage and having his records locked up for security reasons.

That, and learning an A rank jutsu just sounded badass. The fact that it was created by his father made it better.

Naruto got back up to his feet, and grinned happily at this recent turn of events. He resumed his stance, ignoring the small voice in his head urging him to use his sharingan.

Kakashi looked at Naruto proudly, "...You wouldn't happen to have a trick up your sleeve for when an opponent is stronger than you, would you?"

Naruto's grin widened and he replied "I might..."

In response, Kakashi went and tossed shuriken at Naruto, fully expecting him to dodge the attack. Instead, they went straight through Naruto, who didn't even flinch or react when they cut right through him.

Kakashi stared at Naruto in utter panic, believing he just killed him. Then off course, came the utter surprise Kakashi was promised.

'Naruto' opened his mouth, and a raven popped out unharmed. Naruto's entire body seemed to turn into a flock of ravens that flew off in different directions, before the jinchuriki was no where to be seen.

'So, Naruto knows that trick too huh?' Kakashi thought, not all that surprised. Ravens were an animal that was fond of any of the Uchiha clan, much like the Nara clan with deer, and the Inuzuka clan with dogs. A Uchiha clan contract already signed years and years ago, back in the days of the first Hokage. All Naruto would have to do is learn the jutsu and he could use it.

The same could be said of Sasuke, but he would probably be less willing given that his brother is famed as 'The Raven of the Uchiha clan'.

Kakashi heard a twig snap and he whirled around, expecting Naruto to attack him up close again.

Instead, he was greeted by the sight of Naruto going through hand seals before shouting out "Fūton: Renkūdan no jutsu!"

Bullets of air hit Kakashi in the chest, making Kakashi have to do a flip to prevent himself from landing on his back. When he got his footing back, he found that Naruto had disappeared. 'Where did he go?' the copy nin asked himself mentally, before thinking sourly 'This is a lot funnier happening to someone else.'

Kakashi's sharingan eye however, saw a flicker of movement to his side, and Kakashi instinctively sidestepped, and landed his elbow into Naruto's stomach. "Raiton: Raijū Tsuiga." A wolf of lightning extended from Kakashi's hands, chasing after Naruto.

Naruto ducked behind a tree, the lightning wolf cleaving the tree in half before dissipating and letting Naruto charge at Kakashi again.

But this time, Kakashi was fully prepared for the burst Naruto had. He blocked ever attack with one of his own, countering with light jabs at Naruto's chest and ribs and from there, the tide turned fully towards Kakashi's favor, forcing Naruto onto the defensive.

"You know Naruto," as Kakashi spoke, he jabbed Naruto in the chest for what was the fourth time. "Your eyes would prove to be pretty useful Naruto, I suggest you use them." The copy ninja continued his onslaught on Naruto, landing a knee right into the boy's stomach.

The jinchuriki winced but didn't hunch from the light blow. "Yeah? Well I suggest you duck." Naruto said back, disappearing and reappearing behind Kakashi.

Effortlessly, Kakashi caught the boy's fist by the wrist before ramming his knee into Naruto's stomach again before flinging him to the ground. Knowing that Naruto would not activate his sharingan unless provoked, Kakashi decided to try to antagonize him until he used it. "You're still behind Sasuke, I do hope you know that."

Naruto again ignored the verbal jab."I Won't be for long." he replied simply, getting back up and aiming a kick up at Kakashi's head.

Kakashi blocked the kick easily, jabbing Naruto in the kidney. "Are you jealous of him?" Kakashi went on, shoving Naruto in the back before continuing. "I mean, he has everything you've ever wanted, recognition and power, he's treated with respect around the village,"

"I really don't care." Naruto growled, his fist clenching and his eyes flashing. He was obviously starting to get rattled now.

Then Kakashi put the icing on the cake. "He even has Sakura." The copy nin said coolly.

Naruto glared at Kakashi for a moment, unmoving. "I'm over it." He said finally, much to Kakashi's surprise. It didn't stop the copy ninja from attacking again, this time a kick to Naruto's chest, but it was still surprising.

Naruto rolled back up from the momentum, resuming his stance.

Kakashi frowned at failing to get Naruto to use his eyes, but braced himself. "Any more tricks?"

Naruto was focusing at the moment, but he breathed out "Just one. Katon: Karyū Endan!"

A serpent-like dragon burst to life, coiling to form a sphere around Naruto, yet leaving a gap for him to breath through the top. Kakashi's jaw dropped behind his mask, surprised that Naruto could use something like that so easily.

The dragon let out a roar and launched itself at the copy ninja, searing the grass beneath it. It collided dead on with the ground where Kakashi stood, a small explosion blasting it to rubble.

For a second, Naruto was worried he actually just blew his sensei to high hell, when a kunai poked him in the left side of his neck.

Naruto glanced back and saw his sensei standing behind him, the sharp knife in his hand. "Damn... thought I had you." he muttered.

Kakashi gave an eye smile and asked again "_Now_ are you out of tricks?" Kakashi asked, the blade still head firmly in place.

Naruto sighed, and for the first time since returning considered using his eyes. Why did he care about other's opinion on the matter anyway?

'Mostly because for all I know they'll think it's a trick from the fox and hate me more.' Naruto tried to reason with himself, but now he was thinking how idiotic that was. They didn't know a damn thing about the fox aside from it attacked them thirteen years ago.

For all they knew the fox attacked them because it didn't like the fourth Hokage's haircut.

Still, too little too late for using them. He felt a thud hit him in the neck and immediately collapsed.

* * *

><p>Kakashi was looking down at the unconscious form of his student. 'He's definitely improved, he's at least high chunin level with taijutsu and ninjutsu, and he's able to show basic skills with genjutsu. Individually both Sasuke and Naruto have shown that they deserve the chance to become chunin.'<p>

"Ow... my everything." Naruto groaned, sitting up. He saw Kakashi sitting on a rock above him, giving him an analyzing stare.

"Well Naurto," Kakashi began to say, looking down at Naruto with an eye smile. "I can't believe how far you've come. Not even two months ago you couldn't of touched me even when I was reading a book..."

Naruto smiled and interjected proudly "Now I can punch you in the face!"

Kakashi got a glint in his eye. "Yes. Now you can punch me in the face... but not before I kick your ass." the copy ninja said, smiling beneath his mask and saying "The team is going to be together at eight tomorrow in this training ground, come prepared. I still need to see how you three work together with you being gone so long."

Naruto gave a thumbs up and said "You got it Kakashi-sensei!"

"Another thing." Kakashi said, grabbing Naruto's attention. The copy ninja pointed at Naruto's weights and said plainly. "I don't like those."

The blond sweat dropped at the bluntness of his sensei, before he looked up at Kakashi in confusion and a little irked by that."Hey! I worked hard to get where I am with those!" Naruto shouted indigently.

"They're too... Gai standard." Kakashi explained, though that just confused him more.

"Who's Gai?" Naruto asked.

Kakashi shook his head and sighed. "Nevermind. But instead of those bulky weights, I have these for you to use." He handed Naruto four small slips of paper, a small seal placed on the center.

"Press these on you're limbs for me."

Naruto did, and found that the paper itself didn't stick, just the seal. It was like one of the kiddy tattoos that people could buy from a dollar store and wash off after a week or two.

"What are these?" Naruto asked, poking the seal on his left arm. He watched before his eyes as they seemed to fade away like a mirage, which made him stare at his arm dumbly.

"They're called gravity seals." Kakashi said, proud of his handiwork. "You can activate them as you please, just give a simple thought and they're working. The two additional weights on your arms will work separately from your legs, since they are unused to having weights."

"Really?" Naruto asked sounding excited. He decided to try them out, activating the ones in his legs and making the weight fifty pounds. Sure enough, he felt the familiar pressure on his legs without any of the bulkiness of normal weights. 'Fifty pounds have been getting a little light for me... maybe if I add five pounds?'

He raised them, and was feeling a little better now that he could actually alter them at will.

Kakashi watched Naruto getting used to the additional weight on his arms in mild amusement. "This is the first level, the first of a dozen. It can go up to a hundred pounds. When you've gotten used to that weight, all you have to do is put on another seal."

"Got it."

"I suggest for your arms to start with lighter weight, say about twenty pounds." Kakashi continued.

"Alright sensei." Naruto listened to the advise, though his arms were a little unfamiliar with it, he didn't have too much trouble using them.

Kakashi turned around to leave, but at the sound of a roaring lion however, Kakashi whirl around ready to fight. Only, he found Naruto rubbing his stomach sheepishly.

The copy ninja sweat dropped and was almost afraid to ask. "Was that your stomach?"

Naruto rubbed his neck sheepishly, and said hesitantly "... I haven't had lunch yet?"

Kakashi gave a sigh, shaking his head. "You might have grown stronger and more mature Naruto, but you're still the number one knucklehead shinobi in Konoha."

Naruto puffed his cheeks indigently. "Oh yeah... well, uh... You still have old man hair!" he finally shot back, sprinting off towards the village.

And by the time Kakashi registered the words, Naruto was gone.

Kakashi smiled under his mask and shook his head. He reached into his back pouch and pulled out an orange book. 'Now, what page was I on?'

However, there was one thing Kakashi had failed to notice during the entirety of the spar. Near the entrance of the training ground was a teenager, hiding behind the thick oak trees with a dark smile on his face.

'So Naruto, you seemed to dislike using your eyes unless you are in a dire situation. Orochimaru-sama will have to be told of this development right away...'

* * *

><p>The bell for the end of class rang absently through Konohamaru's ears, and Konohamaru started to pack his stuff. He shrugged his bag onto his shoulders and walked out the classroom, missing the look Iruka was giving him.<p>

'Naruto's spar should be over about now,' Iruka thought, reading the clock as 3:30 in the afternoon. 'I hope you can talk to Konohamaru soon Naruto.' He saw Konohamaru just brush roughly past another student's shoulder, and walk towards the door without saying a word. 'This is hard to watch.'

Since the day Naruto was announced missing, Konohamaru stopped trying all together in class. Granted, he didn't try much normally, but he at least did what he could to try and pass. Now, he put down random answers.

Konohamaru kept his head down as he walked, his mind in turmoil. Memories of his father would flash randomly in the Saratobi's mind, who went missing when he was four and was never found. Now the same thing was happening with Naruto, who was like an older brother for him.

To put it mildly, the last few months sucked.

Moegi and Udon were both waiting outside, hoping he would stop and talk to them like they used to.

But he didn't. He kept his feet moving and walked right past them, his eyes not even looking once in their direction and staring down at the floor absently as he walked. He felt their stares on the back of his head, but he still didn't look back.

He didn't know where he was going, only that his feet were going wherever they wanted to.

Or his stomach. He found himself walking into Ichiraku's, a place he had started going to almost every day, just like Naruto.

"Welcome to Ichiraku's... oh hello Konohamaru." Ayame's voice was unusually quiet, even in greeting Konohamaru. She perked up slightly as to try at least make it look like she was fine, but she missed seeing Naruto's face in the store.

He was like a little brother to her, all but living at Ichiraku's for the last six or seven years. For Konohamaru, Naruto was like an older brother, like Iruka was to Naruto himself. They were rivals, at least that's what the Saratobi told himself.

"Miso Ramen again?" She asked Konohamaru, who nodded absently, sliding into a seat and fiddling with his fingers. Ayame walked into the back to prepare the meal.

A second person came in after a few minutes, and Konohamaru glanced back expecting to see Udon or Moegi again, but he was greeted by someone a little older than them.

And also a little more blond.

"Oi, Konohamaru! Why do you look like your about to cry? You're about to eat the food of the gods!"

the Saratobi stared in utter shock at the newcomer, stuttering out "B-boss?"

Naruto sat down next to him with a grin on his face and said "One and only." He ruffled Konohamaru's hair, while the younger boy stared at the scar on Naruto's face.

Konohamaru didn't know how to react at first, caught completely off guard.

So he settled with engulfing Naruto in a hug. Naruto smiled softly, returning the hug. The fox inwardly rolled his eyes, not really caring what his jinchuriki host was doing but completely bored.

He shrugged before deciding to nap again, the best hobby the gods ever created.

Konohamaru let Naruto go and looked up at Naruto's face, but the Saratobi himself frowned at the scar on his face.

The smile disappeared seeing the scar on Naruto's face. "That scar kinda makes you look like Iruka-sensei boss." he said to Naruto.

Naruto kept the grin on his face, and said "I guess it does, huh? It's just in the wrong place, they should've hit my nose instead of under my eye."

They heard Ayame coming out with Konohamaru's food, and Naruto smiled up at the waitress. "Hey Ayame! Miss me?"

The girl just stared blankly at him, not blinking. She slowly grabbed a frying pan, never breaking eye contact with Naruto while keeping a disturbing look of calm on her face "...You idiotic little asshole."

Naruto's smile got smaller and his eyes showed worry. He gave a nervous laugh and tried feebly "I love you too?" After a moment, his face froze in fear as Ayame stalked closer to him, the food long forgotten on a counter and brandishing a pan menacingly.

Konohamaru looked between Naruto and Ayame before he gulped in fear and scooted away, shielding his eyes to the violence. 'Sorry boss, you're on your own for this one.'

Naruto's girlish screams were the only noise for miles around.

* * *

><p>Itachi took a deep breath, coming up out of the lake near Ame. He was almost positive that the moment the first rain drop hit his head, they were aware of his presence in the village hidden in the rain.<p>

Still, he had a job to do. It'll likely end in his death, or at least the loss of a limb, but he'll do it none the less.

Jiraiya had begun his journey back to Konoha, though Itachi knew that he wouldn't arrive for another six weeks at the very earliest due to the toad sage's 'research' for his novel.

But right now, Itachi couldn't worry about that. He was more worried about his own well being.

He summoned a raven, its sharingan eyes looking up at him expectantly. Itachi stared back for a moment, before letting the bird fly away to do its duty. With that, Itachi heard his stomach grumbling, and decided 'A meal before I die wouldn't hurt.'

He stopped in the first restaurant he found, a place called The Milked Cow. An absolutely terrible name, but given what the waiters and waitresses were wearing, it was not the worst part about the place.

No, the worst part was the terrible mistake he made. Strobe lights dotted the dimly lit place, hordes of aging women and even a few men lounging on half a dozen red couches.

This wasn't a restaurant. It was a brothel.

"Well howdy there mister, can I help you?" A fat and aging blond woman asked, walking up to her. She kept batting her eyes flirtatiously at him, which nearly made him gag. But that wasn't the worse part.

That honor belonged to the disgustingly scandalous costume she wore.

It was an actual cow outfit. Equipped with a bell tied around her neck, utters on her stomach, and a one piece barely covering her, ahem, _cleavage. _Itachi kept a blank face, but inwardly he was screaming in utter terror.

"...Mister?"

Itachi shook himself out of his stupor and said "I thought this was a restaurant... my apologies."

The waitress smiled deviously and tried to discreetly spread her legs while speaking. "this is a restaurant... if you want it to be."

Itachi blanched while she gestured to her... well, her womanhood with her hand.

'Kami save me.'

* * *

><p>Naruto sat pouting with his arms crossed, large welts on top of his head. Konohamaru was snickering next to him, the first smile on his face in two months on his face.<p>

"Now, may I take your order Naruto?" Ayame asked sweetly, cleaning off the pot she just used to bash Naruto's head multiple times.

"A simple hello would've worked... you didn't have to beat me up." Naruto grumbled, still pouting. He shot an annoyed glare at Konohamaru, who was cracking up.

"Do you want food or no?" Ayame asked again, this time a little more forceful.

"Uh... let's see." Naruto tapped his chin before he said "Ten Miso Ramen bowls, uh... no. You know what, make it twenty."

Ayame sighed dejectedly, mumbling "...I should seriously make you pay for your meals." before walking to the back to start making the large order.

Konohamaru sat around, spinning in his chair and making whishing noises which left Naruto to his thoughts. Naturally they fell in the line of his team and how he would be seeing them again tomorrow morning

'I wonder just how they've changed.' He mused, before snorting slightly. 'Wonder if Sasuke's still going to be a twat to me.'

**"All Uchiha are the same, arrogant and conniving." **The nine tailed fox said in his head, speaking for the first time in a few hours. **"Do not be surprised that he'll prove to be the same."**

Naruto frowned slightly. 'I thought I told you to shut up?' He shot at the fox sarcastically.

He could almost see the cruel smile playing the demon's lips. "**You are the most ballsy boy I have ever met."** The Nine tails said in an almost amused tone. **"Here I am, a demon stronger than anyone you have ever seen, and you sass me. If not for the fact that I'm trapped in here, I'd applaud you."**

'Damn, thanks. Most people get annoyed for backtalk.' Naruto thought, wondering if the fox was done.

Of course, it wasn't. **"I'm not a person foolish brat." **The kyuubi snarled darkly. **"I am the monster that caused the death of your parents and destroyed most of this pathetic land." **

'You really are dead set on that one aren't ya?' Naruto asked dryly.

The kyuubi didn't dignify that and remained silent. Once he had stopped talking for a few minutes, Naruto finally let himself come back from la-la land, just in time for Ayame to put twenty bowls right in front of him,

"Its on the house Naruto, call it a welcome home gift." The older girl smiled down at him kindly, the way a sister would smile at her brother.

Naruto took it gratefully, before he started to dig in happily.

* * *

><p>Sasuke leaned against a tree with a stoic face, awaiting Kakashi's arrival. And though outwardly he was calm, inwardly he was berating himself. 'Why the hell do I even bother showing up on time?'<p>

Sasuke's eyes narrowed, a column of smoke appearing in front of him. His eyes widened however, as a shuriken flew towards his face.

Reacting on instinct, Sasuke ducked and rolled to the side, his sharingan spinning to life immediately. He knew that he was overly reliant on them, but the way they gave him a boost in just about every single attribute made it hard to resist.

Sasuke saw Kakashi was standing where the poof of smoke once was, his headband up and his sharingan already active. Was Kakashi seriously doing this?

Apparently so, because while Sasuke stared dumbly at Kakashi the jonin went through hand seals quickly and attacked.

"Fūton: Renkūdan no jutsu."

Sasuke was blasted in the chest by a bullet of air, still caught well off his guard by the sudden fight he just found himself in.

"Kakashi, what are you doing-" Sasuke's question was cut off, as he was forced to block a high punch from Kakashi, shoving the limb away before ducking beneath a kick aimed for his head.

The last Uchiha grit his teeth and realized that Kakashi wasn't going as easy as he had in all the spars they had before. The bruise on his chest was an obvious pointer to that.

Going through hand seals, Sasuke let out an attack "Katon: Gōkakyū no jutsu."

A fireball rocketed towards Kakashi, singeing the ground in its wake.

Kakashi went through hand seals quickly and put his hands on the ground. "Doton: Doryūheki no jutsu."

A wall of earth formed in front of Kakashi just in time, the fireball crashing straight into it.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed as smoke filled his vision, not letting him see anything more than five feet in front of him. Fortunately for him though, that's all he needed with his sharingan eyes.

"Come on Kakashi, why are you hiding?" Sasuke called out, his eyes darting from side to side while the thick Uchiha boundary wall was at his back. Seriously, where did he go?

Sasuke heard footsteps to his left, and he immediately saw Kakashi running at him blindly.

Thinking that for once he had a free shot on him, Sasuke cocked his fist back and rammed it right at Kakashi's face, aiming to hit the copy nin as hard as he could.

But Kakashi didn't let that happen. No, he was too crafty for that. He caught the punch, before electricity flashed through his eyes. The oddity didn't escape Sasuke, but before the Uchiha could react, He felt Kakashi's hand dissipate into lightning that blasted him back in a bright explosion.

"GAH!"

Sasuke felt himself smack hard into the boundary wall. 'What the hell was that... a clone jutsu?' Sasuke looked up taking note that the smoke was clearing. The 'Kakashi' he tried to hit was all but dissipated into electricity that was sparking in mid air, the copy ninja fading away with the wind.

Once the smoke cleared, Sasuke saw the real Kakashi was sitting on top of the earth wall he made previously, a vintage eye smile on his masked face.

Kakashi waved good naturedly. "You're getting soft Sasuke." Kakashi called down at him, still smiling. "I've been too easy on you."

Sasuke gapped at Kakashi like this man completely lost it. 'Too easy? _TOO EASY!_ You've been working me into the ground, and even then you make me get back up and keep going!' He mentally screamed.

Seriously, Kakashi made Sasuke work himself into exhaustion before kicking the boy awake and forcing him to keep going. Sasuke didn't know what was going on, but if Kakashi was about to start pushing him even harder, he was in for a world of trouble.

As much as Sasuke wanted to improve, Kakashi had ludicrous training methods that usually ended with Sasuke unconscious.

Kakashi jumped down, landing in a crouch on the ground. "I want you to come at me like you're going to kill me Sasuke. I want to see how far you've come."

Sasuke kept a stoic face, before he nodded and fell into his stance.

Kakashi kept the smile on his face and gave Sasuke the 'come here' gesture with his hand.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, his sharingan analyzing everything about Kakashi's stance. He tapped his knuckles together and charged, sprinting forward and threw a punch at Kakashi's face.

The copy ninja blocked it, stepping down towards Sasuke's ankle to sweep his legs out.

Sasuke pulled his arm back, leaping backwards to avoid Kakashi's attack. He went through hand seals rapidly and said "Katon: Hōsenka no jutsu."

Kakashi's eyed the small fireballs coming at him, a poof of smoke covering his person as the first one struck.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, his sharingan making out the wooden dummy that replaced Kakashi at the very last moment. 'Where did you go?' Sasuke thought, his eyes narrowing as he kept looking around, only finding that Kakashi was no where to be seen.

Mostly, that was because he didn't look up.

Kakashi was sticking to the Earth wall about twenty feet above Sasuke with his chakra, sprinting downwards and aiming a fist down at the last Uchiha.

Sasuke looked up hearing the patter of running feet above him, and his eyes widened. He pushed off the wall and dove out the way, Kakashi's attack cracking the earth beneath it.

It was a restrained version of what Kakashi could've really done if he wanted, a Chidori would've killed the Uchiha even if he got out of the way, but it would've been more than enough to knock Sasuke clear into next week. The Uchiha got up quickly, trying to go through hand seals to use a jutsu.

Problem with that was that Kakashi wouldn't let him.

'Oh shi-' Sasuke didn't even have time to put together a string of words together in his head before he felt Kakashi's fist go across his face, sending him rolling across the ground.

Sasuke's shoulder hit the wall to stop his momentum, and Sasuke spent the next moment catching his breath before he got back to his feet. The Uchiha barely had time to widen his arms before he was blocking Kakashi's next attack, another punch at Sasuke's face.

He pushed Kakashi back, before he struck out with a kick into the copy ninja's midsection to create separation.

Sasuke had a scowl on his face, slightly winded to this point. He glared at Kakashi momentarily before he sprinted forward, going on the offensive again.

He swiped at Kakashi's face with his fist, hoping to hit the jonin in the cheek but failing to do so. Kakashi ducked under the attack, letting Sasuke spin around in front of him.

But Sasuke wasn't finished, extending his leg and using the momentum from the spin he did to kick Kakashi across the chest.

Kakashi was knocked backwards, and Sasuke kept swinging at the copy ninja in an attempt to beat the hell out of him. The jonin moved with the grace of a dancer, dodging every single attack.

Kakashi finally caught Sasuke's fist, planting both feet right into Sasuke's chest and driving the air from the boy's lungs. Sasuke smashed into the ground and sliding, using the momentum to roll up to his feet and resume his stance.

Kakashi stood in a more relaxed stance, his sharingan meeting Sasuke's in a stare. "All that power means nothing without speed Sasuke."

Sasuke was by no means slow. One of the fastest rookies of the class, he naturally possessed speed that no one else had. Hell, before the wave mission Sasuke was the fastest genin in all of Konoha. However, a hard work always would overcome natural talent, and if Kakashi compared Naruto and Sasuke strictly by speed right now, the edge went to Naruto by a large margin.

However, strategy was Sasuke's strong suits. He also had the raw power expected of the Uchiha clan, a clan that rivaled the Senju for centuries before the nations had formed.

So it came down to skill. And as of this point, Kakashi couldn't give either an edge. Naruto had a slight advantage in a unique fighting style, combining the front lotus with the Uchiha clan style, but Sasuke had the advantage of being a combative genius.

In short, it was almost unfair for them to be on the same team. With Sakura excelling at medical ninjutsu, they were well on their way to become a team greater than the sannin.

As long as they don't split the way the previous Team Seven had done.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes again, keeping a level head and charging forward. He put more speed behind his punches, silent rage helping him fight.

After a third attempt at punching him in the face, Kakashi grabbed Sasuke's forearm and spun him around. He tried to kick Sasuke in the back, knocking the boy back into the boundary wall, when a poof of smoke erupted around him.

Kakashi found himself kicking a log in half, and a fist nailing him in the cheek.

The copy ninja landed on his back, surprised by the punch. He got up onto one knee and rubbed his jaw. 'Substitution... not bad. Not bad at all.' Kakashi looked up and saw Sasuke about to clobber his face again, forgoing his usual over-reliance on ninjutsu.

Kakashi leaned backwards to avoid the punch and flipped backwards on his hands, landing on his feet. The earth wall he created earlier was to his back, and Sasuke was only a dozen or so feet away from him. "Intend to kill Sasuke, stop holding back." The copy ninja ordered sharply.

Sasuke glared before he muttered. "You asked for this..."

'Monkey, dragon, rat, bird, ox, snake, dog, tiger, monkey.' Sasuke went through hand seals quickly, both physically creating them and naming them in his head, though he did have to use the longer variant of the set needed due to lacking the skill needed for it. This was the first in battle use he had of this technique.

Lightning covered his left hand, and the sound of chirping birds filled the air.

As Sasuke sprinted forward, he let out the name of his attack in a shout.

"Chidori!"

The last Uchiha slammed his hand forward, aimed right at Kakashi's chest.

The copy ninja let out an eye smile of pride, though he managed to keep Sasuke from seeing it as he leaned out of the way. 'You've grown too Sasuke.' He thought, hearing the wall of earth behind him explode. He rammed his fist into Sasuke's gut, making the Uchiha spit out saliva.

Sasuke stood hunched over for a moment, before he fell to his knees, and eventually onto his face. He wasn't unconscious, but the attack efficiently ended the fight in an anti-climatic finale.

Kakashi looked down at Sasuke for a moment before crouching down to his level, the smile on his face hidden behind his mask but filled with pride.

"You did great Sasuke, better than I expected... you can have the rest of the day to yourself. You'll spend it training anyway, but make sure you don't do anything strenuous. I have a surprise for both you and Sakura tomorrow, don't be late."

"...You're the one who's always two hours late..." Sasuke groaned out, coughing. He sat up slowly, looking up at Kakashi.

Kakashi's smile didn't falter. "Don't worry. I won't be late for something like this."

Sasuke blinked, but Kakashi poofed away in a column of smoke before he could ask what the jonin meant.

* * *

><p>"I said fifty laps!"<p>

Guren's order echoed through the training ground, and rang in her teams ears. She knew they already ran that amount, but damn it she was feeling lazy today. She really didn't want to work with a team anyway, so why not just force them to do stupid stuff like this?

As she thought about this, she got more comfortable on her tree branch. Currently she was lounging leisurely on a tall tree in the center of the training ground, able to oversee everything that her team did.

They were good for their age, around mid-chunin level. But the fact that Orochimaru stuck _her _of all people leading a group of genin for an exam that was a month away pissed her off beyond all reason.

Hence the stupid exercises.

"We just did fifty!" Zaku complained up at her. "Why can't we just spar with each other or something?"

Guren gave a heavy sigh and glared towards the ground to her left, finding that Zaku had plopped down to the ground. He had his legs spread and his arms behind his head, looking like he was about to take a nap right on the ground. Dosu glanced warningly at his teammate, but said nothing as he stood next to a stoic Kin and stared up at Guren.

Guren glared down at Zaku, creating a thick shard of crystal with a terribly sharp point. "Pompous little brat." She muttered, tossing it at him, letting it land mere millimeters away from Zaku's manhood.

The Oto genin gave a yelp and crawled away, staring up at Guren incredulously.

"For kid mouth over here," Guren pointed at Zaku with her thumb. "Do a hundred more laps, and they better be done in thirty minutes this time."

Dosu narrowed his eyes, and spoke up. "Are you out of your mind?"

Guren raised an eyebrow at Dosu, who stepped forward. While she was insulted that the kid was about to call her out, she respected the fact that he had the guts to stare her in the eye unflinching afterwords.

He gestured to his two teammates, and spoke in a louder tone. "We've been running all day, we can barely stand as it is. You expect us all to run a hundred laps?"

Guren sat up in her tree branch, a dangerous look growing on her face. "In thirty minutes. Why, are you afraid that you can't do it?"

Dosu snorted at that, and said blankly. "No. I know I can do it, but..." He pointed to Kin, who raised a confused eyebrow at him. "She can't do it." Then he pointed down to Zaku and said "And this one probably could if he wasn't so damn lazy."

Zaku growled and jumped up to his feet, shouting indigently "Oh hell no! I can totally do it! Want me to prove it?!"

Dosu looked at Zaku impassively, while a tick mark appeared on Kin's forehead. "I can do it as well."

Guren looked confused, seeing what looked like a wink from Dosu and the boy turned his head to speak directly to his teammates. "Really? I'll make a bet with you two." He leaned closer and said "All three of us will run one hundred laps as quickly as possible, and the winner learns a jutsu from Guren. Deal?"

Guren blinked before it registered what he had said, but she didn't debate it. As much as she loathed to say, she was their sensei and was responsible for their growth, so why not teach them a few things.

"What do you say Guren-sensei?" Dosu asked, calling back to the crystal user.

Guren smiled at how Dosu practically worked this completely to his advantage. From what she had seen, he was the fastest in long sprints, as Zaku tired quickly and Kin just wasn't as fast as her teammates. So now, he had his team working harder and he was likely going to get a new jutsu out of this in the process.

If he wasn't careful, Guren might grow to actually like the kid.

"Sure kid." Guren nodded, leaning back in the tree. She knew no matter how hard they ran, it would take a minimum of an hour for this race to be over and wanted to get comfortable again.

Dosu, Kin, and Zaku all lined up next to each other and got in a sprinter's stance, while Guren began to count down for the race to start.

"3...2...1... Go!"

* * *

><p>Naruto walked out of the Ramen stand, Konohamaru behind him with a happy grin on his face. The Saratobi decided to follow Naruto for the time being, a little clingy to him.<p>

'Must be because of what happened to his dad.' Naruto thought sadly, though he kept the happy mask on his face. He didn't know the full details, just that Konohamaru's father went missing on a mission and never came home.

"Hey boss, do you have any new jutsu you can show me?" Naruto was knocked out of his stupor at the sound of the young Saratobi's voice.

Naruto looked down at him, and contemplated it. While he had numerous jutsu he could show Konohamaru, he didn't know his element and thus likely couldn't use any of Naruto's attacks. Besides, if Konohamaru had an affinity for lightning or earth, he was completely out of luck since Naruto knew nothing on any of the two at the moment.

There was also the crow clone technique, but Naruto was sure that Konohamaru couldn't use it either. Itachi told him that Ravens were expressly a Uchiha clan animal, the entire clan already having a contract written and signed for the next hundred generations.

"Sorry Konohamaru," Naruto said apologetically. "You have to wait until your older to get into the stuff I'm getting into."

"Aww!" Konohamaru groaned. "No fair!"

Naruto chuckled, and rubbed the back of his neck. He looked down at the Saratobi and began to muse what element he likely had an affinity for.

'Asuma-sensei has Wind from what I've heard, and Jiji has fire, so that rules out water and earth, but I don't know about his dad. Maybe Lightning?' He snorted softly so that Konohamaru couldn't hear him. 'No, Lightning needs someone with a level head to be able to use it, so it has to be either fire or wind.' Between those two Naruto couldn't rule out either. He guessed it was fire since it was the more common element, as Asuma and Naruto are the only two living shinobi of Konoha with Wind affinities.

'Maybe I should ask pointers from Asuma-sensei sometime? I'm sure he wouldn't mind...' Naruto continued in his musing, not able to completely ignore the glaring eyes of the village, though Konohamaru didn't seem to see them. What was it about this place that was so dead set on doing everything they could to go around the Hokage's laws and make his life hell?

It didn't mater. It never has mattered to him, but now it annoyed him. It felt like a thorn stuck on his shirt, the point broken off. Not painful, just a nuisance.

"Hey boss..." Naruto was snapped out of his musing and looked down at Konohamaru, who was looking up at the sky with a red tint on his cheeks. The Saratobi mumbled a few incoherent words and Naruto stared at him blankly.

"I can't hear a word your saying Konohamaru." Naruto said.

Konohamaru sighed and closed his eyes, blurting out loudly "How do you tell a girl you like her?!"

Naruto stared down at Konohamaru blankly for well over a full minute, who glared back up at him with a scarlet face. Naruto wanted to laugh, he really, _really _wanted to.

But he found that he couldn't. Not with all the people staring at him with hate in their eyes as he talked to the grandson of their hokage.

Why was it bothering him so much now? He was practically suffocating in the hatred right now, it was terrifying.

"...Just be yourself Konohamaru. Don't be someone you're not." Naruto advice, his left hand clenching and unclenching as he walked. He needed to get away from this, before he did something he was going to regret for the rest of his life.

Naruto patted Konohamaru's shoulder, saying "Listen Konohamaru, it's late and I have to be up bright and early tomorrow. Why don't you head on home, I'm sure Hokage-jiji will be happy to know where you've been for the last few hours."

Konohamaru frowned. "But you just came back."

Naruto gave a sigh and said lightly "Exactly. I need to get reacquainted with my team for the chunin exams next month." Naruto frowned as his explanation didn't work, and he continued. "That, and I have a lot to prove."

Konohamaru looked confused. What did that even mean? "You have to prove what?"

'That I'm not a dead last, that I can be just as good as my father once was, that jinchuriki aren't inherently evil.' Naruto rapidly thought, though he didn't say any of that. Two of those reasons weren't reasons that anyone aside from the adults of the village were aware of, and only two or three people knew who his father was not counting himself.

Instead he beat his chest with a cocky grin and proclaimed loudly "That I'm still the best damn shinobi in all of Konoha!"

Konohamaru looked up at the older boy he saw as a brother, truly believing Naruto's proclamation. Winning the chunin exams in Kumoagakure will prove it.

"Alright Naruto... see ya later!" Konohamaru said the last bit as he started to head home, waving goodbye.

"yeah..." Naruto's voice trailed off as he climbed up to the rooftops of Konoha again, finding it much easier to breathe. Naruto smiled lightly, taking a deep breath of air before he sprinted full speed towards his house, his weights still laying forgotten back at the training ground.

When Naruto got back, it was around nine P.M. He yawned and flopped straight down on his bed, smiling as he thought of the restful night of sleep he was going to have.

At least, it was supposed to be restful.

* * *

><p>Naruto let out a groan as he found himself face first in ankle deep water, half his face above the water. He blinked twice before his eyes adjusted to the dim lighting, staring up at an enormous red gate with a small paper seal up near the center of it, acting as a lock. There seemed to be no definite ceiling, the cage expanding past where Naruto's sight ended.<p>

Behind the cage was utter blackness, nothing visible inside the large prison save for two chilling red eyes staring back at him. Each eye was about a hundred feet high, near the small seal in the center of the cage from Naruto's view, slightly above it.

**"Well," **The Kyuubi's voice rumbled above him snidely. **"It's about time you arrived."**

Naruto wanted to speak, but the killing intent radiating off the fox was utterly suffocating, and the fox wasn't doing anything threatening aside from looking at him.

Seeing his container was about to pee his pants, the fox snorted in disgust. **"I swear boy, you are nothing but utter trash. A real jinchuriki would have more courage than this. Where did all that bravado go from the noodle restaurant a few hours ago?"** The monster growled down at him.

The harsh words however, made Naruto raise his chin indigently and lip off without a single thought about his well being on the line. "Well damn, that's not very nice fur ball." He said, standing up and dusting himself off. He looked the demon right in the eyes now, and held a thumb up to his face. "But my courage is still right here."

**"A mask." **the fox said blankly, before it's tone grew dark. **"Little fool, you think putting on a mask that I've seen since you created it makes you brave? It makes you look even more pathetic than my last host."**

Naruto shrugged, keeping the cocky smirk on his face. "Makes _me _pathetic? Oh, I'm sorry, who's the asshole trapped in a cage?"

The fox's eyes narrowed, and he spat **"Calling me pathetic is foolish. You're mortal, you will die off and then I am free once again. I don't have to break free, eighty years is a blink of the eye to me."**

Naruto nodded, but said "That's true, but those eighty years, you're going to be... well, you're going to be-"

**"If you say it, I will kill you."** The fox snarled maliciously, knowing exactly what Naruto was about to say.

But Naruto just kept grinned and said it anyway.

"My bitch."

The fox smashed itself against the cage in a feeble attempt of breaking free, the nine tailed fox's form being revealed to him for the first time. It wasn't quite as big as the Hokage mountain like the stories made it out to be, but damn it was close. Well over a few hundred feet, the fox was hunching over to stare down at him. It had eye popping orange fur, matted down by the water of its prison. All nine of its tails were the size of entire apartment complexes in length, and all of its claws the size of full grown adults.

**"Come here, and I will tear you apart!" **It roared at him, its fangs dripping with saliva.

Naruto gave the fox a deadpan look. "Then I'll just stay over here." he shrugged, unknowingly infuriating the fox even more. "Now, is there a reason I'm here instead of sleeping like I wanted to be doing?"

**"Aside from promising to meet me face to face?"** The Kyuubi snarled dangerously.** "It's because your weak, and I am not going to be trapped in a sniveling coward." **The fox said, finally calming down after their little spat a moment ago.

Naruto glared at the demon through the bars and said "I'm no coward-"

**"Then why did you not use your sharingan against Kakashi?"** The kyuubi asked. **"Why hinder your own abilities unless _you were afraid!"_**

Naruto clenched his fist. "It wasn't the right time... and mostly because I didn't want to until the end."

The fox shook his head in disgust and spat **"It wasn't the right time? No, the right time was the beginning of the fight! The sharingan is a tool, one meant to be used. You saw what just how much more powerful you were with it than you are without it. Are you going to be satisfied tied with the Uchiha brat for the rest of your existence?"**

Naruto didn't speak on that.

** "You are a jinchuriki, the weakest might I add. The human sacrifice of the one tail is ten times more powerful than that pathetic Uchiha!"** The Kyuubi roared, slamming its paw against the cage. **"The five tails is over twenty times as, and the six is over forty, and the Eight tails, over a thousand times! Out of the eight pairs, we are one of the weakest, and I will not stand for it any longer!"**

Naruto was stunned at that. While he wasn't overly surprised that there were others like him, he didn't expect the fox itself to tell him that they all were that much stronger than him.

**"Do you see the problem now? Your eyes won't make you catch up with them immediately, but in the long run they will do nothing but help you."**

"I don't care what you have to say about it." Naruto finally snapped. "I've already grown stronger than I ever was, hell I've already been told I caught someone no one thought I'd ever equal!"

**"I don't care that you're catching up with that boy on your team, you need to grow to be as strong as his older brother!" **The fox said in a calmer, albeit still very hostile tone.

"You want me to grow as strong as Itachi?" Naruto snorted. "Do you not think I'm trying? If it was easy, I'd already of done it!"

**"I never said anything about it being easy. You are too brash, cocky, and weak minded to realize your true potential."** The fox said, lowering its head to Naruto's level.

"Weak minded," Naruto's face scrunched up. "what the hell does that mean?"

**"It means that I am not the only one capable of seeing through your façade." **The fox said harshly, its face coming into a cruel smile. **"The Yamanaka clan are specialists in reading people, in more than just their minds. They can read facial expressions, they can see body language. The Nara clan is full of complete genius, and though they are pathetically lazy, they are keenly observant. Hell, the Akimichi are one of the few clans I'd ever call decent enough to see someone suffering. That entire little trio you ran into earlier could read you like a book, boy."**

Naruto didn't know what to say to that. Was it true, was he really that easy to read? "So what? It won't stop me from becoming Hokage... it won't stop me from growing stronger!" Naruto proclaimed, pointing his finger challengingly at the demon caged before him.

The fox surprisingly nodded in agreement. **"No it will not. Not with me helping you as well as that Hatake brat."**

Did Naruto hear the fox right? "...uh, did you say something about you were going to _help _me?"

**"I did."** The fox said blankly, cocking its head and giving a dark smirk. **"And it starts tonight."**

Naruto raised an eyebrow, and asked "Uh shouldn't I be the one who tells me what to do? After all, you're a little... stuck?"

The fox gave a chuckle, before it said in a chilling voice **"Stuck I may be, but Uchiha Itachi is not the only one proficient in genjutsu. I can force you to see so many horrors, that you will be afraid to blink."** The fox's eyes flickered, making Naruto flinch and blink.

And thus began Naruto's tour of hell.

WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT (A lot more than anything else I've written so far.)

_Fire. Everything was on fire. That was the first thing that Naruto realized._

_The pungent smell of death and decay filled Naruto's lungs. It took a minute, but upon seeing the charred and nearly destroyed version of the Hokage mountain in the distance, he realized that the flaming crater was once his proud village. Corpses were strewn everywhere, terrified looks on their faces as they died in mid scream being burned alive._

_Naruto's heart seemed to crawl up into his throat, and he started running. He didn't know where he was going, only that he had to get away._

_Unfortunately, he tripped, and tumbled down an ash covered hill. The disgusting taste got in his mouth, but that was the furthest thing from his mind upon standing up to survey where he was._

_The Rookie nine were all together, their sensei's with them. Dozens of other nameless people were there, but Naruto barely registered the civilians. Just the Konoha twelve mattered._

_The closest team was Team Ten, who were lying in pools of their own blood on the scorched ground, limbs missing and grave wounds all over them. Their eyes were open and their faces twisted with terror and pain._

_Ino, the person closest to him, particularly looked the worse. Aside from her face being scuffed up with cuts and bruises, her left arm ripped off and a gaping hole through her stomach so big Naruto would have seen the ground beneath her if not for the pool of blood._

_Teams eight as well as the rest of team seven save for Sakura and himself was near them as well, looking just as bad, with Akamaru torn in half, And Kakashi's masked head ripped from his shoulders, laying next to his leg, while his torso was barely still together from the cuts on it._

_Naruto couldn't hold back the tears. "No..." He whispered, backing up a step from shock, but he tripped again, something fuzzy cushioning his fall, also being what tripped him._

_He looked at it in horror, and saw that it was a tail. It was a vibrant orange color blackened from all the blood and ash, coated in the life of others. Naruto frantically began to look__ over the rest of his appearance, finding his hands were growing long black claws and the whisker marks on his cheek turning to actual whiskers._

_More tears stung his eyes and fell down to his knees, his hands over his head and he was desperately using the genjutsu breaking method Itachi taught him, though it failed miserably._

_'This... this can't be happening,' Naruto thought, shaking his head and staring down to the ground, refusing to look up. '__ I couldn't have done this to them...' Naruto's thoughts were jumbled at best with terror and he resisted the urge to vomit. _

_"Na..ruto..." he heard a voice rasp out. His neck shook slightly in surprise, the voice coming from behind him. He slowly turned around, finding Ino's haunting eyes had moved to stare at him, her mouth moving. "Why...d...id you... do... t...his?"_

_Naruto shook his head numbly, and tried to speak. "I-"_

_"Do...be..." Naruto's eyes snapped down to the other side of him, where Sasuke lay. "Y...you... I hate... you... How... c...ould you?" His tone of voice was the same raspy voice as Ino's had been._

_A third voice spoke up, making Naruto leap to his feet. "Y..ou saved... me...from those... bullies... when... we were... little... j...ust to do... this?" Hinata's head moved on its own to roll over and stare at him._

_Once again, Naruto shook his head frantically. "No-"_

_"Y...ou were my... f...friend..." Shikamaru said from behind him, clawing for breath. "N..aru...to...you... monster."_

_Choji was the next person Naruto cared about that spoke up. "I...gave you...food...thought you...weren't like...the rest of them..."_

_Naruto heard yet another voice, though this was more disturbing than the rest. "I...screwed up on the... bridge... but I was... sorry... I really was..." Kakashi's head spoke, the mask still on his face. The copy nin's severed head had lost its headband, letting the sharingan eye stare at Naruto as his body twitched horribly._

_Finally, Naruto began to crack. "Stop it!" he screamed, his hands going up to cover his ears and clutch his head. He fell to his knees as tears flowed like rivers from his eyes._

_"I... thought you loved me..." came a voice on the wind. It was Sakura's voice, though her body was no where to find. "Y...ou always... called me... beautiful..."_

_Naruto looked around in vain for her, until and saw Sakura's head rolling towards him, the flames licking her blood stained hair. __"Y...ou're a... mon...ster..." her voice rasped out of her lifeless head._

_Naruto tried to speak, but no words came out of his mouth. Sakura's head stopped rolling right in front of him, her face seeming stuck in one horrible expression._

_Pain. _

_He wanted to scream, but a horrible sensation overcame him in the moment, forcing him to watch his own body as he let out a sickening laughter in the voice that belonged to the Kyuubi. _

_In his mind, a booming voice spoke. _

_"NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO UZUMAKI, IT WILL NEVER BE ENOUGH!" _

_Next thing Naruto knew, the world fell to black._

GRAPHIC CONTENT OVER

Naruto finally opened his eyes, finding himself laying down in the water right in front of the demon fox's cage. His heart was pounding so hard he thought it might burst in his chest. The fox was staring down at him impassively, clearly not impressed with Naruto in the slightest.

**"And that was one of the nicer ones. Remember that." **The fox said in a calm tone, grinning dangerously.

'But... the seal? It protects me... right?' Naruto gave an involuntary shiver, standing back up.

**"It keeps me from eating you or killing you yes."** The fox acknowledged. **"However it can do nothing to stop the little bit of chakra I can send to you. I can't shoot fire at you or grind your bones**** to dust, but I can still use genjutsu on you if you annoy me.**"

Naruto stared up in horror at the fox, hatred and fear filling him all over again. This monster, it was never powerless, this entire time? That's impossible, the seal should...

His eyes widened with realization. 'The seal can't stop his chakra whenever I'm in a fight and need a power up, I guess he's not wrong about being able to push some of his chakra through whenever he wants.'

To think a few moments ago, he actually called the fox...

**"It will be dawn soon, and you still have to train with that Kakashi."** The fox said finally, interrupting his train of thought. **"I see that the first thing I have to do with you is teach you how to break such a simple genjutsu."**

"I already can break basic genjutsu!" Naruto said with narrowed eyes. That was by no means a simple illusion the Kyuubi cast on him moments ago.

**"Simple in my terms." **The fox amended, rolling his eyes. Of course he knew Naruto knew how to break a genjutsu, he was trapped in his body. **"Honestly, being able to break a child's illusion isn't an accomplishment, especially if you run across an enemy with Uchiha Itachi's skill in the art."**

Naruto clenched his fist until it shook. He couldn't believe this thing was such a dick.

...Well, he could, but that's aside the point.

"Then... we're done?" he asked slowly, staring up at the fox with narrow eyes.

**"Yes, we are finished."** The fox looked at him critically, before his lips twisted into a smile** "For now."** With those parting words, Naruto felt himself leave his conscious back into the real world.

* * *

><p>Jutsu list (in order of appearance)<p>

Fūton: Daitoppa- Great Breakthrough. C-ranked. A technique that creates a sudden gust of wind, though it's power is determined by its user (IE, an average chunin uses it, it can destroy a part of a forest. A kage can use this to destroy an entire mountain.

Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu- Great Fireball. C-ranked. A popular move among the Uchiha clan, It is a technique where the user's chakra kneaded inside the body is converted into fire and expelled from the mouth as a massive orb.

Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu- Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu. A-ranked. A massive version of the regular shadow clone technique, it clones mass numbers of the user.

Karasu Bunshin no Jutsu- Crow Clone Technique. C-ranked. A technique that produces a clone by projecting one's own chakra towards dozens of birds. Because it uses birds as a medium, it requires less chakra than the normal Shadow Clone Technique, while still being able to perform techniques. The dozens of crows come together to form the body of a clone. When the chakra projected by the user is severed, the crows disperse, though the user is still able to continue to speak through it.

Fūton: Renkūdan no jutsu- Drilling air bullet. B-ranked. The user sucks in air before they shoot a highly compressed air ball from its mouth. Because of the large quantity of chakra kneaded into it, it explodes the moment it reaches its target, dealing an enormous amount of damage, as well as levelling anything in its path.

Raiton: Raijū Tsuiga- Lightning Beast Tracking Fang. C-ranked. By manipulating lightning chakra into their hand, the user can make the lightning expand to create the form of a hound. The hound remains connected to the user's hand, allowing them to control it during its attack.

Katon: Karyū Endan no jutsu- Fire Dragon Flame Bullet. B-ranked. The user molds their chakra into flames, then manipulates the shape into a dragon (The ones with no wings).

Fūton: Shinkūgyoku- Vacuum Sphere. B-ranked. The user takes a deep breath and then exhales a powerful blast of wind chakra. It can be fired in rapid succession from one shot, dispersing the attack over an expansive range, enough to make it difficult to avoid them entirely without taking any damage. Due to the properties of this technique, the expelled blasts are capable of piercing into and potentially through an opponent's flesh when they collide with it.

Doton: Doryūheki-Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall. B-rank. The user creates a solid wall of earth as a form of defence. Chakra is either converted to earth within the body and then spat out to form the wall or the user can manipulate pre-existing earth to form the wall. The barrier itself is also coated with chakra, making its strength incomparable to that of a normal mud wall. Because of the earth's special characteristics, the wall is highly resistant against, for instance, fire and water.

Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu-Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu. C-rank. This technique creates a volley of small fireballs, which are sent flying can also be concealed within the flames, creating an unexpected secondary surprise attack.

* * *

><p><span><strong>Before anyone complains about how Naruto hasn't used his eyes, be patient. That's coming, and not the 'GoT the dragons are on their way' but it's coming up in the next few chapters<strong> (Actually its already written, I don't want to ruin the surprise). Mostly this chapter was to further show what Naruto could do, not show him actually go toe to toe with Kakashi (Kakashi was still not going all out, let's all remember who he is and how badass he will always be).

Another thing, should I make Naruto use a weapon (IE a Tanto (Like Sasuke's sword in Shippuuden but a tanto is about a foot and a half to two feet smaller) or a Katana)?

I update this chapter twice because I was informed that Sasuke's sword was called a chokuto. Not entirely sure it's right, I've been calling it a tanto for years now, so... yeah.

Don't forget to review!


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